Abu Ghraib, Iraq
May 22, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A senator has made a Department of Justice review critical of operations at the Santa Fe County jail part of the ongoing controversy over America's management of prisons in Iraq.  A Department of Justice review in March 2003 had harsh words for management of the Santa Fe County jail by Utah-based Management and Training Corp., criticizing MTC's medical care for inmates and concluding some conditions violated their constitutional rights.  Former New Mexico corrections secretary O. Lane McCotter is an MTC executive and was named by Attorney General John Ashcroft to help rebuild Iraq prisons last year.  McCotter's role in Iraq prisons-- including at Abu Grhaib, where abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. military personnel has sparked a scandal-- has come under congressional scrutiny.  Senator Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., in particular, is making an issue of McCotter's work in Iraq and why he was chosen to go there. A statement provided by Schumer's office reviews McCotter's employment history, including his resignation as Utah prison director in 1997 after a mentally ill inmate died after spending 16 hours strapped to a chair.  Schumer's news release also calls attention to the Justice report criticizing MTC's management of the Santa Fe County jail, and notes that the New Mexico Corrections Department also raised concerns about the jail.  "While McCotter's company was under state and Department of Justice investigation, Attorney General Ashcroft selected him to serve as one of four civilian advisers to oversee the reconstitution of Iraqi prisons," Schumer noted.  "Why Attorney General Ashcroft would send someone with such a checkered record to rebuild Iraq's corrections system is beyond me," Schumer said.  

May 21, 2004 Miami Herald
Although several cases of prisoner abuse by civilians in Iraq have been referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, the FBI has not yet been asked to investigate any of them, Director Robert Mueller said Thursday.  What Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee seemed to indicate that the probe into whether independent contractors or CIA officers killed prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan is moving more slowly than on the military front, where one soldier has already been court-martialed and others have been charged.  While the faces of military police have been splashed all over the news, the names of almost all civilians involved -- employees of other government agencies and civilian contractors -- were deleted from Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's report on the abuse at Abu Ghraib.  Mueller also said lawyers for the Justice Department and Defense Department are wrestling with jurisdictional issues. Any crimes at the prison would have been committed on foreign soil against foreign citizens, creating complicated legal questions.  Also Thursday, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called for a Justice Department probe into two members of a U.S. group sent to Iraq in May 2003 to help with the reconstruction of Abu Ghraib. Lane McCotter, a former corrections chief in Utah, and John Armstrong, who led the prison system in Connecticut, were part of a team picked by Attorney General John Ashcroft and others in the Bush administration.  

May 21, 2004 New York Times
The use of American corrections executives with abuse accusations in their past to oversee American-run prisons in Iraq is prompting concerns in Congress about how the officials were selected and screened. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, sent a letter yesterday to Attorney General John Ashcroft questioning what he described as the "checkered record when it comes to prisoners' rights" of John J. Armstrong, a former commissioner of corrections in Connecticut. Mr. Armstrong resigned last year after Connecticut settled lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the families of two Connecticut inmates who died after being sent by Mr. Armstrong to a supermaximum security prison in Virginia. In his letter, Mr. Schumer requested that the Justice Department conduct an investigation into the role of American civilians in the Iraqi prison system. Another official, Lane McCotter, who was forced to resign as director of the Utah Department of Corrections in 1997 after an incident in which a mentally ill inmate died after guards left him shackled naked to a restraining chair for 16 hours, was dispatched by Mr. Ashcroft to head a team of Americans to reopen Iraq's prisons. After his resignation in Utah, Mr. McCotter became an executive of a private prison company, the Management and Training Corporation, one of whose jails was strongly criticized in a Justice Department report just a month before the Justice Department sent him to Iraq.

May 12, 2004 The Nation
In 1997 a 29-year-old schizophrenic inmate named Michael Valent was stripped naked and strapped to a restraining chair by Utah prison staff because he refused to take a pillowcase off his head. Shortly after he was released some sixteen hours later, Valent collapsed and died from a blood clot that blocked an artery to his heart. The chilling incident made national news not only because it happened to be videotaped but also because Valent's family successfully sued the State of Utah and forced it to stop using the device. Director of the Utah Department of Corrections, Lane McCotter, who was named in the suit and defended use of the chair, resigned in the ensuing firestorm. Some six years later, Lane McCotter was working in Abu Ghraib prison, part of a four-man team of correctional advisers sent by the Justice Department and charged with the sensitive mission of reconstructing Iraq's notorious prisons, ravaged by decades of human rights abuse. While McCotter left Iraq shortly before the current scandal at Abu Ghraib began and says he had nothing to do with the MPs who committed the atrocities, his very presence there raises serious questions about US handling of the Iraqi prison system. It's bad enough that the Justice Department picked McCotter--whose reputation in Utah was at best controversial and at worst disturbing. But further, the Justice Department hired him less than three months after its own civil rights division released a shocking thirty-six-page report documenting inhumane conditions at a New Mexico jail, run by the company where McCotter is an executive. Then, on May 20, in a case of unfathomable irony, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that McCotter, along with three other corrections experts, had gone to Iraq. The very same day, Justice Department lawyers began their first negotiations with Santa Fe County officials over the extensive changes needed at the jail to avoid legal action. 

May 11, 2004 AP
A former New Mexico corrections secretary helped to reopen an Iraqi prison that is now the center of a prisoner abuse controversy. O.L. "Lane" McCotter, who was corrections secretary from the late 1980s to the end of 1990, was in Baghdad from May to September last year overseeing the reconstruction of the Abu Ghraib prison. The prison is where pictures were taken of naked Iraqi prisoners piled on top of one another and positioned by American soldiers in pretend sex acts. McCotter said his primary duty in Iraq was to evaluate the structural status of the prisons. McCotter's tenure in this state ended with some controversy. In October 1988, a court-appointed prison monitor accused state prison officials of erasing a portion of a videotape of a prison disturbance to cover up acts of brutality against inmates.McCotter left New Mexico to run the Utah Corrections Department. But he resigned in 1997, two months after a mentally ill inmate died after spending 16 hours strapped to a restraining chair. After that incident, McCotter went to work for a Utah-based private prison company, Management & Training Corp., which operates the Santa Fe County jail. 

May 10, 2004 Salt Lake Tribune
The Abu Ghraib prison, where U.S. military police were photographed abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners, was rebuilt under the supervision of two former Utah Department of Corrections directors.  Gary DeLand and O. Lane McCotter say they were told the project -- financed with money confiscated within Iraq -- would not be used to detain prisoners of war.  McCotter has first-hand experience with controversy over how prisoners are treated. He resigned as Utah prison director in May 1997, within two months after a mentally ill inmate died after spending 16 hours strapped naked to a restraining chair.

Benson, Arizona
July 28, 2004 News-Sun
Moving forward on funding a $25 million detention center, the Greater Benson Economic Development Corporation has elected its officers and created bylaws.  The group drew a lot of controversy when it was created by the City Council on July 7. Leading the new corporation is David DiPeso, unanimously selected as president.  Councilman Ted Amox, is five president; Beverly Stepp, is secretary; Mike Montroy is the treasurer. Serving as second vice president will be Dr. Mark Kartchner.  "They want to build this thing as soon as possible so that's the reason for this hurry," Amox said. "I think Cochise County is the most likely candidate in the United States for a facility like this."  City Manager Boyd Kraemer said the city of Benson can't borrow the money to fund the facility without voter approval, which is where the corporation comes in.  The plan is for the group to borrow $25 million through revenue bonds, which will supposedly be paid for over the next 22 years, through profits from detainees being held at the facility anywhere from three to nine months. Once the debt is paid, the City will own the facility.  The benefit of this plan, Kraemer said, is that the city is in no way liable and taxes won't increase to pay for the facility.  Kevin Pranis, a criminal justice policy analyst for Justice Strategies in New York City, said he's been studying privately owned detention centers for the last two years and to say there is going to be no risk to the city is "laughable."  "If bonds go into default the investor is never the one to get hurt," Pranis said. "This may be successful, but if it's not, someone is going to have to pay and the city will be right in the middle of it. The investors have the money to file the lawsuits and fight it. The city doesn't, and will probably end up paying for it. The city isn't an expert in bond laws or with the detention-center market. There are no guarantees."  Neither the city nor Matador has contacted the U.S. Marshals office about using the Benson facility.  Brian Nernex, assistant chief deputy of the U.S. Marshals office in Tucson, said he found out about the proposed facility through the San Pedro Valley News-Sun article on July 14 and the office has not committed to using it.  Pranis said its common for privately owned facilities to not only leave the public out of the process, but also the law-enforcement agencies that are said to be behind the project.  Besides the Marshals office not being contracted, Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever has also been left out of the loop.  "I have not been talked to directly," Dever said. "With something as big as this it does surprise me that they haven't even talked to the Marshals office." 

Bradshaw State Jail, Texas
November 25, 2003 Texas Lawyer
Private prison-management corporations and their employees may be sued under §[1983 by a prisoner who has suffered a constitutional injury. FACTS: Billy Rosborough is a prisoner in the Bradshaw State Jail, a Texas prison owned and operated by defendant Management and Training Corp., a private prison-management corporation. Defendant Chris Shirley is a corrections officer employed by MTC at the jail. Rosborough sued MTC and Shirley under 42 U.S.C. §[1983 alleging that he was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment when Shirley maliciously slammed a door on Rosborough's fingers, severing two fingertips. Rosborough also alleges that Shirley displayed deliberate indifference to Rosborough's resulting serious medical condition. In addition, Rosborough alleges that MTC is liable under 42 U.S.C. §[1983 for its improper training and supervision of Shirley. Rosborough supplemented his federal action with state-law negligence claims. 

Central North Correctional Centre, Penetanguishene, Canada
November 8, 2006 The Mirror
About 90 per cent of jail employees will continue on at Central North Correctional Centre when the jail moves from private to public, this week, and provincial officials say that will ensure a smooth transition. "We've got a lot of experience in the institution that we're going to be keeping. So, when it comes down to the actual transition, it's going to be largely handing over files and inventory and also switching over to ministry operating procedures," said Stuart McGetrick, senior communications coordinator for the Ministry of Community Safety & Correctional Services. "Since we've got the staff and the management already in place, largely, it's going to be a fairly straight forward process to transfer a public operation." Ministry officials have been at CNCC all week to prepare for the transition on Nov. 9. Staff have been briefed in the processes and procedures of public sector jails but McGetrick admits that doesn't mean there will be a complete switch this week. He does, however, credit Management and Training Corporation and the union for their assistance. "We're very fortunate that we've had excellent cooperation from MTCC and OPSEU in the lead up to the transition," he said. "We really anticipate a very smooth transition process."

September 27, 2006 NUPGE CA
The staff at the only private adult jail in Canada will be public employees again in November, ending a failed five-year privatization experiment launched by the Conservative government of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) has reached an agreement with the province on the procedures to make the transfer when the contract given by the Tories to Utah-based Management & Training Corporation (MTC) to operate the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene expires. OPSEU President Leah Casselman said that she is pleased that an agreement has been reached and hopes that the transition will be a smooth one. “Our first concern was always the members currently working at the facility,” Casselman said. “There is still work to be done, but the major transition issues have fortunately been dealt with.”

August 25, 2006 The Mirror
Not enough staff at Central North Correctional Centre led to the murder of inmate Minh Tu on May 5, 2004, charges a Penetanguishene woman. Richard Quansah was found guilty of first-degree murder and recently sentenced to life in prison without parole for 25 years for killing Minh Tu, after an argument over a board game while the two were inmates at the Penetanguishene prison operated by Management and Training Corporation (MTC). Sharon Dion, chairperson of Citizens Against Private Prisons, told The Mirror she is surprised more violence has not occurred at the privately-operated jail because of ongoing problems and lack of staff to deal with them properly. Dion is known locally and internationally for her knowledge about privatized prisons, and has lent her expertise to the Ontario government, as well as correctional organizations throughout Canada and the United States. She says she was contacted by several upset correctional officers after the May 2004 stabbing who told her that a CO was given a note from an inmate that said there was a knife in the unit and a 'killing' would take place. However, a lockdown and search failed to locate the weapon so inmates were allowed out of their cells. Tu was murdered soon after. "Management was warned that this was going to happen," said Dion. "They shouldn't have allowed inmates to come out of their cells until something was found or more investigation was done. And, of course, because of the outcome, that proves the theory."

July 26, 2006 Midland Free Press
There is one Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) employee guaranteed a job once the province takes over operations. Facility administrator Phill Clough has accepted employment with the ministry, beginning Nov. 10. Ministry spokesperson Stuart McGetrick and CNCC confirmed the offer and acceptance to The Mirror. Meanwhile, negotiations have begun between the province and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) for correctional officers at Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) to keep their jobs when the province takes over the operation of the facility. Senior officials from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services met with OPSEU's Ministry Employee Relations Committee (MERC) team to discuss the future of more than 200 correctional officers at the jail. The meeting took place on July 17 and lasted for a good part of the day. According to OPSEU spokesperson Don Ford, the initial meeting was simply to lay out each side's priorities for further talks. "First of all, (our) priority one is to make sure that the people who are currently working at the jail continue to work at the jail after the transition," he told The Mirror. "From that point forward, we would also look for whatever seniority they've accumulated under the private employer to also continue on to the ministry." Community Safety & Correctional Services Minister, Monte Kwinter announced in April that the privately-run jail will be transferred into the public sector when the contract with Utah-based Management & Training Corporation is up on Nov. 10. To date, employees have not been told of their fate. When he made the announcement, Kwinter told The Mirror that the province would work with MTC to make the transition as seamless as possible. He also said there would be more job opportunities once the jail is in the public fold. "We need personnel to run that facility and we're going to have an increase in personnel because we're going to staff it up to the level that we do in (Lindsay)," he said. "So, what is going to happen, obviously, there will be opportunities for more jobs." Although Ford spoke to The Mirror, he cautioned that OPSEU will not report on the progress of the meetings with the employer. "We are treating this no differently than we treat bargaining," he said. "We're meeting with the employer and we're not going to give a status update on those talks, other than to say, 'We're talking.'"

May 24, 2006 Midland Free Press
Small and quiet, with dark hair and eyes, eight-year-old Sharon Desjardins never asked for much. What she wanted, she worked hard to get - and she wanted that baby squirrel more than anything. A boy in her class had raided its nest and was showing off the tiny black rodent in the schoolyard. The young girl was known for stepping in and protecting weaker students when they were being picked on, because it was the right thing to do. This was another one of the poor souls she was out to save. She promised him a dollar if she could have it. It was the mid-60s and a dollar was hard to come by. Desjardins begged and borrowed what she could, counting up her pennies and pleading with her mom to part with spare change until she had enough to save the pet she would later name 'Chipper.' She lets out a hearty laugh as she tells the story. "It was house trained, I'm not kidding you. I have pictures of it sitting on our hands, on our shoulders ... It would scratch to get in the door and scratch to get out to the bathroom," she said. "My mother was wonderful; she let me have pretty well any animal that I wanted." More than 40 years later, Desjardins' married name is Dion and Chipper is long gone; but there is still a small bowl of shelled peanuts sitting on her kitchen counter. If there is anyone with the patience and tenacity to train a squirrel, it's this woman who has fought tirelessly to see Canada's first and only privatized adult jail brought into public hands. Her kitchen is larger and brighter than the one in the small Water Street house in Penetanguishene that she grew up in, as the youngest of three children to Bernice and Gordon Desjardins. That house, full of troubled memories of an alcoholic father and a childhood spent in poverty, is markedly different than the stylish and welcoming home she has created for herself and her family. Some of the happiest times of Dion's life have been in this room, with family and friends gathered on barstools, comfortable leather furniture or around the large dining room table. This is what means the most to her, she confides, looking around the room at framed pictures of herself and her husband of 30 years, Ray, their two children and grandchildren. Her posture is relaxed, her smile warm and her brown eyes have lost their intense look of defiance that marked seven long years of battling the provincial government and corporate America. It's over; Central North Correctional Centre is going back into the public fold. While it looks like she can rest in Canada - for now, at least - she has accepted several invitations to speak throughout the U.S. She admits the last several days since she received the call from Queen's Park that the province would not renew its contract with Utah-based Management and Training Corporation have been emotionally exhausting. "It's elation ... something I just can't explain and at times I'm afraid I'm going to fall when it's done ... Of course you don't do it for the accolades, but I guess it just feels so good and I'm just so pleased that the right decision was made by the Liberal government." Though she admits, sometimes, even family took a backseat to the fight. "My convictions were so strong that I couldn't let anyone away with the nonsense that was happening," she said. The scrappy Metis woman has been called tenacious, a defender of the defenceless, passionate, and some names that aren't exactly flattering by those who oppose her. But by all accounts, she brushes off these labels. She says she is simply a woman who cares about the small community she was born and raised in, and the people who live there. She flashes a wide smile showing off straight, polished teeth surrounded by her trademark pink lips, and is unapologetic when she explains why she continues standing up for what she believes is right. "What I would like to see is money spent on social programs. Getting children in high-risk families help so they don't go through that revolving door. Prison privatization will just enhance that because that's what they want; that's how they make money. I just couldn't stand for our Canadian standards and values to be harmed in that way." She credits her tough childhood for making her survivor. "I guess I've always stood up for myself and I guess that's the one credit I can give to my father; that life made me want to survive. Nothing's been given to me. "So, I go for what I feel I want to have. It's a good thing," she says, adding, "I look at my (past) life as a positive not something negative." Beyond the back gate of her yard is Fuller Avenue, a road that has gotten much busier in the past seven years; a road that leads to Canada's first-ever private prison - a five-year pilot project of the former Conservative government that failed. When the leaves have fallen from her neighbours' trees that shroud her backyard, Dion can see the edge of the prison property from her kitchen window. She has never been against CNCC's location or the jobs it brought to Penetanguishene. Ray is a psychiatric nurse at Oak Ridge, Ontario's only maximum-security forensic program located at the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene, right beside the prison, and she knows having incarcerated people in local facilities can work. The fight against privatization took her to the United States, where she is a member of the Private Corrections Institute, to Queen's Park, where she passed on information she had about private prisons and Management and Training Corporation, and to countless meetings and rallies where she eloquently spoke about prison privatization. "What I love about Sharon is she always comes prepared," Liberal MPP Dave Levac recently told The Mirror. "She's factual. She's not emotional about it. She brings passion to the situation, but I have to tell you that she's probably one of the most prepared people I've ever dealt with and worked with." At times, feeling left out of the evaluation process between Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay and CNCC, she didn't stop calling politicians until she was heard. Towards the end of the process, they even started calling her. The last four-and-a-half years that the jail has been open have been marked by inmate deaths (Jeffrey Elliott and Lorne Thaw), stabbings, beatings of inmates and correctional officers, low staffing levels, and numerous security issues, she says. Although it's acknowledged that these incidents also happen in publicly-run jails throughout Ontario, Dion didn't want to accept it as the status quo. She continually asked the ministry tough questions and worked hard to keep the issues in the public eye. It wasn't always easy, but she admits to only a handful of times when she felt like it was a lost cause. There were even times, she confides, to feeling like she was in over her head, as a woman from small-town Ontario. Those thoughts never lasted long. "Of course I felt that way, but because of the knowledge that I had, I had the courage to do what I'm doing," she says, drawing herself up higher on the sofa. "It's the truth. I don't get paid for this. I'm not making it up because I have documentation and that's the power. It's simple. Anybody else could have done it." But no one else took the lead. Dion was one person amongst dozens at a public meeting in 1996. At the time, the Conservative government hadn't even decided that Penetanguishene would host one of two 'super jails' the province was proposing, but a rumour about privatization was brought up. Dion didn't know anything about prison privatization and began to research the issue. What she discovered she didn't like. It pushed her to dig deeper and talk to more people in the United States that had experience in the private prison system. In 1999, when the government announced Penetanguishene's jail would be run by a private company, she began her crusade against privatization and started Citizens Against Private Prisons. "I have extremely strong convictions, when I know the issue and I've taken the time to educate myself on them. There's no way I would ever let anyone tell me different, because I know the truth," she says, her voice indignant. "Every time I would ask questions of the past government, I would basically know the answer and I'd know I was lied to and that just (gave) me more determination." Although she has often been at the forefront of the cause, she notes that there were always people she could count on to help, specifically her mother and Ray, Midland resident Dawn Marie Horn, friends and colleagues at the Private Corrections Institute, members of OPSEU and Brant MPP Levac. Of course, there were also the employees who had the courage to speak to her. Although she was sometimes a sounding board for inmates and their families, she has never professed to be an inmate advocate. When would she find the time? When she wasn't writing letters, organizing rallies or public forums and publicly speaking against privatization, Dion operated her own used clothing business (she has since retired), volunteers in Aboriginal Services at the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene and is a competitive a capella four-part harmony singer with the Barrie Chorus, where she is also the assistant director. Two years ago, she also completed five university credits towards a degree in Aboriginal Education. Still, she took countless calls from inmates, wives and hysterical mothers with sons inside the walls of CNCC, and helped the father of Jeffery Elliott - the inmate who died in hospital in 2003, after receiving a cut to his left ring finger while at CNCC - throughout the inquest into his horrific death. They will not forget what she has done, nor will some employees at CNCC who disagreed with the way the prison was operated. Her phone has been ringing incessantly since April 27, when the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services announced the jail would be publicly run as of Nov. 10. Many CNCC employees, politicians, residents and union officials have left messages - among them, a heartfelt message from a former inmate, thanking her for her unwavering determination and for giving a voice to inmates like him. She can't seem to erase this one. As she re-plays the emotional recording, her eyes tear up. Then she smiles. It's a very good day.

May 3, 2006 The Mirror
Opponents of private prisons throughout the world are heralding the provincial Liberal government's decision to bring Central North Correctional Centre into the public fold. "This is a very large victory, not only in Canada, but across the world," said Brian Dawe, executive director of Corrections USA, a non-profit coalition of corrections professionals from Canada and the U.S. "This is the very first time, anywhere in the world, that any governmental agency has undertaken an actual apples-to-apples comparison of the two public and private prisons. No one has ever, anywhere else, designed two identical prisons for the sole purpose of determining whether or not the private industry should be involved in corrections or it should remain a public function." The Liberal government announced its decision to transfer the operation from the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation to the public sector on April 27, after a five-year study compared the privately-run prison with its publicly-run twin in Lindsay, Central East Correctional Centre. During that time, Dawe said a world spotlight has been on Penetanguishene. He noted this precedent-setting move will catch the attention of governments in the rest of Canada, the U.S., and beyond. Dawe gives a lot of credit to Penetanguishene resident Sharon Dion, who has been fighting privatization of the jail since 1999, when the former Conservative government under Mike Harris announced CNCC could be privatized. "She deserves an incredible amount of credit for her dogged perseverance on behalf of all of the people in, not only her neck of the woods, but across Canada and around the world," he said.

April 28, 2006 The Mirror
Canada's only privately-operated jail will return to the public sector in the fall. Although cost was a factor in the decision of whether or not to keep Penetanguishene's prison privately run, in the end, lower costs offered through Management & Training Corporation (MTC) of Utah wasn't enough to maintain its role as the operator of the Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC). Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister, Monte Kwinter announced yesterday that the jail will be transferred into the public sector when the contract expires Nov. 10, 2006. "Our concern was to make sure we were providing a facility that was adequately looking after the people that we have responsibility for, the inmates, that we make sure their health-care provisions are provided for; that we make sure their recidivism rates (are minimized)," Kwinter said in a telephone interview with The Mirror shortly after the decision was announced. "We want to make sure that there is integration back into the community and there is adequate facilities to do that, and adequate personnel resources to do that," he said. "When we took a look at it, we just found we were getting better results (at Central East Correctional Centre). Mind you, it's going to cost us more money - but everything is a trade off. Overall, we felt the citizens of Ontario would be better served with this facility being back in public hands." Although the decision is disappointing for MTC, public relations director Peter Mount says the private operator will continue to work with the ministry. "We're going to work and continue to work very closely with our partners at the ministry, especially during this transition period," Mount said. "Our responsibility is and always will be the safety of the public, the staff and the inmates. That's going to continue during the transitional period." For local resident Sharon Dion, who has campaigned against the privatization of the prison since it was announced in 1999, the decision came as a welcomed surprise. "It's such a triumphant day for Canada," said Dion, who received a call from Queen's Park shortly after the decision was made. "I'm really praising the Liberal government for making the right decision."

April 28, 2006 Midland Free Press
Canada’s first privately operated adult prison is being turned over to the province. Central North Correctional Centre, which opened in 2001 and has been run by Management and Training Corporation since, will be operated by the provincial government, effective Nov. 10, 2006, when MTC's five-year contract expires. The Ministry of Community Safety and Corrections made the announcement Thursday after completing a report comparing CNCC with its physical twin in Kawartha Lakes, which is publicly run. A decision on the prison's future was needed six months prior to the current contract expiring. "On just a cost basis the (private operation) was more economical," corrections minister Monte Kwinter told Osprey News Thursday afternoon, "but that reflected on the outcome. "Management and Training Corporation was in material compliance with the (existing) contract, but there's no question that health care was delivered better at the Kawartha Lakes facility and that integration was better at the Kawartha Lakes facility," Kwinter said. "We have a responsibility to make sure we provide adequate resources, and while there's no question there were some benefits from this exercise that we could learn from," he said. "The evidence clearly indicates that the public facility produced better results." The province opened CNCC under a private-public partnership after a Conservative overhaul of Ontario's prison system in the 1990s. CECC opened soon after with the idea of comparing the facilities based on cost effectiveness and performance. Price Waterhouse Coopers, a consulting firm, conducted a comparison review on CNCC and CECC for the province over an extended timeframe. Part of that review shows the public prison rated higher than CNCC in eight of 10 performance categories, including security and community impact. CNCC spokesperson Peter Mount said he was surprised by the decision of the government not to renew the company's contract and called it “disappointing." “We will begin the process of talking to staff right away,” said Mount, adding the U.S.-based company intends to continue working with the province until its contract expires. "We have a responsibility and we will continue to live up to that responsibility," he said. "We will work closely with the government to ensure safety is looked after." Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop, who has been a proponent of the private jail and who's also the Conservative corrections critic, wasn’t thrilled by Thursday's announcement. “The Liberals are in power and they have the ability to do this," he said. "I’m going to live with the decision, but I just hope they’ll provide us with the numbers.” In September of 2004, Dunlop estimated that having the jail run by a private operator saved taxpayers more than $20 million annually, according to financial figures he had seen at the time. "I think there was a substantial savings there. I'd like them to show me in black and white, without fudging the numbers, what it actually was," he said. "That should be something that's available. What's to hide?" For Penetanguishene resident Sharon Dion, an opponent of privatized prisons, was pleased by the government's decision to go public. "It's an enormous victory. I couldn't be more pleased. It's a great day for all Canadians," said Dion, of Citizens Against Privatized Prisons. "I was a little concerned at times about this review, but I think the consultation was done in an honest manner on the government's part." Kwinter said details still need to be ironed out, but the province plans to provide 91 additional staff at the Penetanguishene prison when it takes over in November.

April 27, 2006 The Star
Canada's only privately run jail is going public again. Ontario Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter says an analysis of the Penetanguishene prison showed it was saving the province money under private operation. But Kwinter says there was a human cost. He says health-care services weren't as good for prisoners, and offenders were more likely to repeat. Kwinter says it will cost the province $2 million more per year to run the 1,200-bed prison. The jail, north of Toronto, went private under Ontario's previous Conservative government.

April 27, 2006 Government of Ontario
Ontario will transfer the operation of the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene to the public sector, Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter announced today. "After five years, there has been no appreciable benefit from the private operation of the Central North Correctional Centre," said Kwinter. "We carefully studied its overall performance compared with the publicly operated Central East Correctional Centre in Kawartha Lakes, and concluded the CECC performed better in key areas such as security, health care and reducing re-offending rates. As a result, the government will allow the contract with the private operator to expire." Management and Training Corporation Canada (MTCC) was chosen to operate the Central North Correctional Centre in May 2001 as part of a five-year pilot project. During that period, the Central East Correctional Centre - which is identical in design - opened as a publicly operated facility. The pilot project was to determine if there was any advantage to private operations of correctional services in Ontario. "We acknowledge that MTCC was in material compliance with the contract," said Kwinter, "but the evidence clearly indicates that the public facility produced better results in key performance areas." The contract with MTCC ends on November 10, 2006. Over the next six months, the ministry will work with its partners, including MTCC and bargaining agents, to ensure a safe and smooth transition of CNCC's operations to the Ontario Public Service.

April 21, 2006 The Mirror
Once a staunch supporter of the privatization of the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop now says he is not fighting to keep the jail privately operated, but will accept whatever decision the Liberal government makes in May. "I'm the guy in our caucus that wore the jail and I don't intend to go back into that battle again," he told The Mirror. "If the government decides to keep it private, then I will be fully supportive of the operator and will do whatever I can to help them out. If the government decides to go public, I will work with the public system and do my best." Dunlop says he never felt supported by the provincial Conservatives when they were in power, regarding the privatization of CNCC, but instead felt he was left "carrying the full load" of the decision. "... I can't see myself, once again, fighting very very hard to keep it private when I didn't get a lot of support for privatization in the first place, particularly from my party and even from the community, in a lot of ways," he said. "I think that was fairly clear. I don't think that was any kind of a mystery. No one came up and said that to me, but when privatization was talked about, before the decision was made, I knew if there was a privatized jail, I would get it because I'm the new guy down there. I don't know anybody. That's just the way politics is." The MPP fought hard to garner support for it, against the opposition of most of the Penetanguishene council of the day and members of the community. "I guess I do feel, a little bit to this day, a little let down that I didn't get more support for privatization," said Dunlop, who noted that many people supported the idea to him face to face, but would not go public with their support.

March 10, 2006 The Mirror
Central North Correctional Centre employees worried about their fate met secretly Wednesday night with OPSEU officials. "Rumours have been circulating in the institution that if the public service takes over the jail, all of these people are going to be out of work because the public service correctional officers will come in and (take their jobs)," said Don Ford, a spokesperson for the Ontario Public Services Employee Union, who attended the meeting. Between 50 and 70 employees attended the two-hour meeting, organized by members of OPSEU Local 369. Employees are concerned about what will happen to them if the jail is made public, or if the present contract is not renewed. Staffing levels continue to be a concern for correctional officers at CNCC. Pete Wright, president of OPSEU Local 368 at CECC, says the Lindsay prison - Penetanguishene's physical twin except publicly operated - has 245 full-time and 80 part-time (called unclassifieds) COs. According to union representatives at CNCC, Penetanguishene's prison has approximately 210 full-time and 30 part-time correctional officers. "A lot of the questions we got from the members at Central North were operational questions as to how they operate on a daily basis and how we operate," said Wright. "I think they were shocked to hear some of the things that they take for granted that we don't allow at Central East ... I think staffing levels are one of the major concerns." Although Wright says violence is inherent at every jail, it's usually offender on offender. He says Lindsay has not had any murders at its facility (inmate Ming Tu was stabbed to death at CNCC) and no correctional officers have been beaten, unlike the Penetanguishene prison, where a correctional officer was severely beaten in 2003 and another CO was stabbed in the neck by an inmate in 2005.

February 20, 2006 NUPGE
Correctional employees represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) are pressuring Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty to make good on a 2003 election promise to return the Ontario superjail in Penetanguishene to the public sector. A petition, being circulated by the union's ministry employee relations committee (MERC), cites a litany of serious problems within the jail, which has been operated since it opened in 2001 by an American company - Utah-based Management and Training Corporation (MTC). The firm was granted a five-year, $170-million contract to operate the 1,184-bed institution. It is the first privately-run superjail anywhere in Canada. The deal was negotiated, over widespread protests, by the former Conservative government of Premier Mike Harris in 2001. It is due to expire later this year unless renewed by the province. McGuinty pledged when he was elected in October 2003 not to renew the contract. He also declared that "private jails are a failed experiment and have no place in Ontario." OPSEU says problems experienced under MTC management at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene include the following: • a major riot due to lack of food, clothing and medical care, costing the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs; • the death of a 20-year-old due to lack of proper medical care; • four inmate stabbings, an inmate murder and the beating of correctional officers, over period of months - all caused by insufficient staffing levels; and • the loss of $1.1-million a year in business taxes that the operators have been exempted from paying to the municipality.

February 3, 2006 The Mirror
A former manager at the Central North Correctional Centre says he has major concerns about the well-being of employees and inmates at the jail. Former CNCC Sgt. Martin Speyer, 29, alleges inmates receives a poor diet and medical care, and staff is bullied by senior management inside Canada's only privately-run adult prison. Speyer was fired by Management & Training Corporation (MTC) on Jan. 11, after being on administrative leave since Dec. 20, 2005. In his dismissal letter, the company alleges he was dishonest, he spoke negatively about the institution in public, he negelected his duty; made misleading statements; and was involved in a criminal act or negative behaviour. Speyer refutes the allegations, saying he was, until October 2005, considered a model employee - one who received numerous letters of commendation and gratitude from prison officials, and was even Correctional Officer of the Year during the first year of operation. Speyer says it wasn't until he filed a complaint against another manager in October 2005, and became more outspoken about employee issues that he fell from grace. "They are bullied, absolutely bullied," he says. "They are scared every day. When the staff come in, they are afraid of losing their jobs. The key phrase that is used all the time there is, "I'm one report away from being fired." Medical care is an issue at the jail that has been highlighted in the media since it opened. (Medication) is not done properly, pure and simple," says Speyer. "These guys are not getting the medication they deserve. As a sergeant, I don't know how many times my staff have been in situations where they have encountered violence from an inmate that's acting out because they don't get proper medication. Special dietary needs not being met is also a concern raised by Speyer. Paula King, executive director of Elizabeth Fry in Simcoe County, says the organization has had to advocate for pregnant women whose dietary needs were not being met. "We have had to go to bat for pregnant women who have not received the proper amounts of milk and fresh fruit (as per ministry guidelines)," says King. Speyer first became disenchanted with the organization during the American Correctional Association accreditation process in September 2004, he says. One of the most frequently cited reasons by correctional facilities to seek accreditation is to demonstrate to interested parties that the organization is operating at professional standards. When MTC sought its accreditation, Speyer says he was in charge of making sure the prison looked the way it was supposed to during the process, organizing crews that worked steadily to make it look like the kitchen and bathrooms had been regularly cleaned. "We had crews going through to extra scrub the toilets (with drills that had scrub brushes on the end) so they looked like they were scrubbed on a daily basis, although they hadn't been touched (for a long time)." He says he and others were asked by senior management to take cleaning chemicals, extra tools and extra medical supplies out of the prison to ensure MTC met with ACA standards. A letter dated Dec. 17, 2004 by then-acting facility administrator Phill Clough, thanked Speyer for his 'above and beyond' commitment to the accreditation, but the process was the biggest letdown Speyer had ever felt in his professional life, he says. "It wasn't something that anyone could say that they're proud of but...I believed from day one what it (the accreditation) was supposed to be for. I believed that once we achieved this certain standard that we weren't going to go back to the old ways," he tells The Mirror. "So, when I was taking this stuff out of the institution, I was thinking this is going to be that much better for the staff. Then, once we had the accreditation on the wall, it went back to how it was." Speyer has joined Citizens Against Private Prisons in its fight to have the provincial government not renew MTC's contract, which comes due in the fall of 2006. The government has to make its decision by May.

February 1, 2006 The Mirror
A petition will soon be delivered to Queen's Park asking that Premier Dalton McGuinty publicly promise to not renew the Management and Training Corporation (MTC) contract at the Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) in Penetanguishene. Sharon Dion, chairperson of Citizens Against Private Prisons, has created a petition that cites alleged issues at the jail, including lack of food, clothing and medical care, insufficient staffing levels; and MTC's exemption from paying the Town of Penetanguishene business taxes. She expects about 15,000 signatures once the petition becomes available electronically. She plans to give the petition to Brant Liberal MPP Dave Levac - a vocal opponent of private prisons - in March so he can present it in the Ontario Legislature. McGuinty made promise not to renew jail contract at Penetanguishene Council. When then-Opposition leader McGuinty visited Penetanguishene Council with Levac, before the jail was open, he promised that a Liberal government would not renew the contract with Utah-based MTC. "We are trying to draw the attention of the Liberal government so that they keep their promise," Dion said. "That's the ultimate goal." Dion says she has received calls of support from correctional officers at the Central East Correctional Centre (CECC) in Lindsay and the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton which are publicly-operated. "Also, what's not included in the per diem rate is all of the hidden costs of prison privatization, like ambulance and hospital costs, escorts, and lawsuits that some inmates and their families have against MTC, First Correctional Medical and the Province of Ontario, in the case of Jeffrey Elliott's death."

December 30, 2005 The Free Press
Three of the four people charged in connection with the killing of an inmate in 2004 at Central North Correctional Centre have pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Minh Tu, 28, died the morning of May 5, 2004 at Huronia District Hospital in Midland, two hours after being admitted following an altercation in one of the living units at C.N.C.C. A post-mortem examination determined Tu died as a result of a stab wound. Tu was being held at the superjail on a warrant for extradition to the United States where he had been facing drug charges. He had been at CNCC for about two months prior to his murder.

December 16, 2005 The Mirror
A local woman has taken her fight to Queen's Park to have Central North Correctional Centre publicly operated. Sharon Dion of Citizens Against Private Prisons met with MPP Liz Sandals, parliamentary assistant to Monte Kwinter, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, on Monday to discuss her concerns about Management and Training Corporation. She also met with Brant MPP Dave Levac in a separate meeting. Levac was the Liberal Opposition Critic for Corrections when the Tories were in power and was a vocal opponent of the privatization of the super jail in Penetanguishene. "My goal was to remind the Liberal party of their promise to end the private prison culture in Ontario," Dion told The Mirror. "I provided Ms. Sandals with paperwork to enlighten her of the patterns and practices of the documented mismanagement of MTC, both here and in the U.S." There is one year left of the province's current five-year contract with MTC but, as per contract stipulations, the government must decide by May 2006 whether to extend the contract for another year; extend the contract up to five years, based on an agreement of financial terms; re-tender the contract; or return the prison to the public service. During the meeting with Sandals, Dion talked about inmate deaths, violence and staff issues at the privately-run facility. "We talked about the inadequate health care that caused the death of Jeffrey Elliot, the stabbings, the murder, riot, staff safety, low staff levels and high staff turnover, and (correctional officer) Dwight Stoneman's brutal beating," she noted. Levac praised Dion for her preparedness. "Sharon has been tenacious as always. What I love about Sharon is she always comes prepared," he said, noting he's hopeful the jail will become publicly operated. "She's factual. She's not emotional about it. She brings passion to the situation but I have to tell you that she's probably one of the most prepared people I've ever dealt with and worked with."

November 16, 2005 The Mirror
The province will have to decide whether or not Management Training Corporation (MTC) is meeting its service contract responsibilities, and if it wants the Utah-based company to continue to run the Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC), by May. There is one year left of the current, five-year contract but as per contract stipulations, only six months for the government to decide whether to extend the contract for another year; extend the contract up to five years, based on an agreement of financial terms; re-tender the contract; or return the prison to the public service. According to Brian Low, Executive Lead, Alternative Service Delivery with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, the contract decision-making process has begun and will continue into the new year. Consultants from Price Waterhouse Coopers will interview people from key groups to ensure the information the government has is accurate. While members of Council, chamber of commerce, board of monitors at the jail, and Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services will be interviewed, members of community groups, like Citizens Against Private Prisons, will not be included. "It's disappointing they're not coming to speak to me because I have been doing private prison research for five years and it's important that this new government knows the character of the company they're working with," said Sharon Dion, chairperson of Citizens Against Private Prisons. "I have scathing reports about Management and Training Corporation in the United States. This government needs to know there are major problems with MTC in the United States and First Correctional Medical who (also) runs our medical unit." Low says the government already has information from Dion and others who have made their views clear. Dion has been involved in the debate for five years - even before the decision was made to run the jail privately - and remembers a public promise made in 2001 by then-Opposition leader, Dalton McGuinty, when he paid a visit to Penetanguishene Council. "I want to make sure they uphold their promise, that it's going back into public hands (if the Liberals come into power)," she said, noting that she will soon meet with the parliamentary assistant to Monte Kwinter, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, to discuss her findings, at Queen's Park. When considering whether to extend the MTC contract, Dion wants the government to take into consideration the deaths, violence, and one instance where the wrong inmate was released, over the past four years. But Low cautions that the incidents must be put in perspective.

August 19, 2005 The Mirror
Property taxes topped the list of issues that members of Penetanguishene Council talked about with the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services at the AMO Conference this week. Council members want Management and Training Corporation (MTC), the Utah-based company that operates the Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC), to pay property taxes, estimated at just over $1 million each year. Currently, the town receives payment in lieu of taxes of $75 a bed - similar to what government-run facilities such as hospitals and publicly-run jails pay. "We don't think that's enough," said Deputy Mayor Randy Robbins from the AMO Conference. "We've laid our cards on the table of pursuing what every other business is doing in the province of Ontario. They're not exempt from paying those property taxes. We'd like to see them thrown into the real world with everybody else." While this may be the first time council has officially talked to Monte Kwinter about the issue, it's been an ongoing concern since the provincial Conservative government announced it would seek a private company to operate the jail. Of the approximate $1 million in property taxes, about $660,000 would come to Penetanguishene while the remainder would go to the County of Simcoe. "We tried to explain that if Fuller Avenue needs to be rebuilt because of the traffic that the facility is generating, we don't have that kind of money," said Robbins. "We would like, if it's the choice of the ministry to go with a contract extension (with MTC), that they pay taxes that we could put into reserve for when those roads need to be rebuilt." The possibility of the contract being extended with MTC was also a hot item on the agenda during the 20-minute meeting on Monday. Robbins, along with councillors Dan LaRose, Debbie Levy, Anne Murphy and Doug Leroux, asked that the municipality have a seat at the table when the province compares CNCC with the publicly-run jail in Lindsay and evaluates MTC's performance.

August 17, 2005 Midland Free Press
Correctional officers at the Central North Correctional Centre are still on the job after voting 84 per cent in favour of a new, four-year collective agreement on Friday. According to OPSEU Local 369 bargaining team chairperson, Sean Wilson, the new contract contains "99 per cent" of what the members wanted. "We have an agreement on making sure we have breaks to maintain our sanity in order to work there. Under the Health and Safety Act, we've launched some processes to increase the staffing levels," said Wilson, who couldn't go into further detail. "Once they enshrine our breaks and stuff in the collective agreement they have no choice but to increase the staffing levels in order to do that."

August 9, 2005 Newswire
Correctional officers employed at Canada's only private adult jail will vote Aug. 12 on a tentative agreement reached today at 9:30 a.m. The bargaining team is recommending that the staff of Central North Correctional Centre, members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 369, ratify the agreement. "This is a good deal for our members and we recommend it unanimously," said Sean Wilson, chair of the union bargaining team. Details of the contract will be available after the ratification vote is held. The previous contract expired on Dec. 31, 2004.

August 5, 2005 The Mirror
If there is a strike at the Central North Correctional Centre, members of Penetanguishene Council are satisfied there is a plan in place to deal with it, says Mayor Anita Dubeau. "Council was relatively satisfied that certainly there is a plan in place," Dubeau told The Mirror. "I can't share the details with you, but it did give council a good opportunity to ask the necessary questions and (Management and Training Corporation) answered as best they could." Most of Wednesday night's special meeting was held in camera because staffing levels and security measures were discussed. Council members and some residents have been concerned about how the prison will continue its day-to-day operations safely if some 200 correctional officers walk off the job on Aug. 12. OPSEU has confirmed that they are going back to the mediation table with MTC on Monday, Aug. 8. "Less than 50 MTC managers are available to replace 200 striking correctional officers," Sean Wilson, chairperson of the union bargaining team, said in a press release.

August 3, 2005 The Mirror
A Penetanguishene resident says she believes members of municipal council should be apprised of the procedures and policies that will be involved in securing the Central North Correctional Facility, in the event of a strike by OPSEU correctional officers on Aug. 11. Sharon Dion, the Canadian liaison for The Private Corrections Institute in Florida and chairperson of Citizens Against Private Prisons, has expressed her concerns about the safety of the community in a letter to council, dated July 26. "There seems to be many unanswered questions regarding who will be securing the facility in the event of a strike. The ministry's office advised me the issue would be dealt with between (Management and Training Corporation) and the union. On the contrary, union representatives have stated that no public service workers will be utilized during a strike," wrote Dion. Although he expresses similar concerns, Deputy Mayor Randy Robbins said he is not sure what council can do. "Sure, we are (concerned about the possible strike)," Robbins told The Mirror, before he had an opportunity to read the letter. "We've been through a few strikes with OPSEU with the mental health centre and it's always a concern. Not knowing the contingency plan heightens that concern. We'll have to see. It's not as if we can send our people up there. What can we do?" But Dion wants assurances the plan will be implemented properly. "I do understand the importance of not making public staffing numbers for security reasons, but due to the fact that this American company does not have other institutions in Canada to draw upon, (it) could jeopardize the safety of our community."

August 3, 2005 The Mirror
It's difficult for Dwight to remember exactly what happened on Dec. 17, 2003, after he was beaten by an inmate at the Central North Correctional Centre. "I just turned slightly with my body to say (to the inmate), 'There's the door,' and when I did, I don't remember anything else for probably three or four minutes," said the correctional officer, hesitating slightly to gather his thoughts - a side effect from the severe beating he received. "During that time, I was taking all kinds of hits to the body and the head. I was basically blacked out but standing up; I hadn't fallen to the ground. There was a point at which I came to. Part of me, almost a primal instinct type of thing, told me to stay up or you're going to die, and I thought I was having a massive heart attack." According to Dwight, that day he was teamed up with a new female correctional officer on her first day of work in Unit 1, while a third officer was pulled off the unit to work elsewhere. Another officer was stationed inside the control pod. While Dwight went into the unit alone to approach the inmate, who would not go into his cell as directed, his partner stayed outside the locked unit, as is correct procedure. But Dwight says there should have been more officers in the unit. "There shouldn't have been just the two of us. There should have been probably four or five and this is the shortcomings of private prisons," said the 57 year old, who was a police officer for 34 years with Toronto Police Service and the OPP before coming to CNCC as a correctional officer. "They've got to economize some way and there's only so many paper clips you can save. The only other area you can cut back on is either meals or the officers on duty." It's incidents like this - and the stabbing of a correctional officer three times in the neck by an inmate several weeks ago - that union officials say prove higher staff levels and tighter security measures need to be in their new collective agreement. The previous contract expired Dec. 31, 2004. Correctional officers voted 95 per cent in favour of rejecting an offer by Management and Training Corporation Canada (MTCC), the Utah-based company that operates the private prison. More than 88 per cent of the correctional officers turned out to vote on July 21. Unlike correctional officers in the Ontario Public Service who cannot strike because they are covered by the Crown Employee Collective Bargaining Act, which requires that a negotiated essential services agreement be in place prior to a labour disruption, CNCC officers can go on strike if they do not reach a collective agreement. MTC and its employees are covered under the Labour Relations Act, which has no legislative requirement for an essential services agreement.

August 3, 2005 OPSEU
Correctional officers employed at Canada’s only private adult jail will walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 12 if no agreement is reached for a new collective agreement, says the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE). On July 21, members of OPSEU Local 369 voted 95% to reject the last offer made by Utah-based Management and Training Corporation, the company hired by the former Conservative government of Premier Mike Harris to run the institution. OPSEU President Leah Casselman says wage issues have been mostly agreed upon. However, issues such as staffing levels and time off remain outstanding. “Our members are still looking for parity with their public sector counterparts,” Casselman says. “We will not allow this American company to run the jail at standards that are below jails in the rest of the province.” Unlike publicly-operated jails, there is no law requiring members to provide essential services during a strike or lockout. Sean Wilson, chair of the union bargaining team, says this should be a concern for both the jail and the community. “Less than 50 MTC managers are available to replace 200 striking correctional officers,” Wilson adds. “There aren’t any trained teams available to deal with riots or other disturbances should they arise.”

July 13, 2005
Bargaining representatives for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 369 at the Penetanguishene private superjail have recommended that their members vote to reject the final offer tabled by the employer today, July 13. The contract offer affects over 200 correctional staff at the facility. OPSEU members will vote on the employer offer on July 21. A rejection will give the union a strike mandate, and a strike date is expected to be set for mid-August. The previous contract expired Dec. 31, 2004. OPSEU President Leah Casselman said that the contract offer doesn't come anywhere close to what her members need in their next collective agreement: Parity with public sector correctional workers.  Currently, workers at the facility run by Utah-based Management and Training Corporation earn two per cent less per hour than their public sector counterparts and receive fewer benefits and less time off. Sean Wilson, chair of the union bargaining team, says this is unacceptable.

July 8, 2005 Simcoe.com
JAIL GUARD STABBED - OPP charged an inmate at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene after an attack in a staircase. Police said, on Monday, June 27, a 22-year-old correctional officer was grabbed by an inmate, and stabbed in the neck with a sharpened object. The officer was able to run away and went into a secured area. Another officer was threatened with death before the inmate calmed down. An 18-year-old Brampton man was arrested and charged with attempted murder, assaulting a peace officer, threatening death and breach of probation.

May 27, 2005 Midland Free Press
As a wrongful death suit slowly makes its way through the courts, Tom Elliott believes the privately operated jail in which his son contracted blood poisoning should become a public institution. Elliott's son, Jeffrey, died from blood poisoning in August 2003, after cutting his hand on a food hatch at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene. The 1,184 bed facility is operated by Management and Training Corporation (MTC) of Canada, and it's parent company based in Centerville, Utah. In September, a coroner's inquest ruled the 20-year-old Beachburg man died accidentally. Elliott and his family are seeking $150,000 in damages in a wrongful death suit launched against the Province of Ontario, MTC and First Correctional Medical. Elliott said he is unwilling to negotiate a settlement with the three parties. "It is not a money issue.  I'm not concerned about money," he said. "I will settle for nothing less than a public apology, to let the public know that this wasn't right." "There is no money to be gained out of this," Elliott added. "I want to make the public understand that it could be their son or daughter."

May 20, 2005 Midland Free Press
Central North Correctional Centre was locked down this week after a bullet was found Saturday in a washroom at the jail. The washroom where staff found the bullet was located in the front administration area of the prison. "It's obviously a strange place to find a bullet," said correctional officer Sean Wilson, president of OPSEU Local 369, which represents more than 200 guards. "The one thought is, if there's a bullet, is there a gun?" Guards issued a work refusal Saturday and a Ministry of Labour inspector was summoned. Ministry spokesperson Bruce Skeaff said the first work refusal was aired Saturday morning. That’s when a bullet and razors were found inside the prison, though he was unable to provide a location for where the razors were discovered. The jail was locked down — and remained so at press time — by the employer as the work refusal unfolded. A ministry inspector determined the workers had no right to issue the work refusal and the situation was downgraded to a complaint. A search was ordered, and the inspector advised that staff be instructed and trained by the employer to do such.

May 18, 2005 The Mirror
A bullet and razors were found at the jail in Penetanguishene, but no gun has yet been located. Inmates at the Central North Correctional Center remained in lockdown yesterday as correctional officers searched for a gun believed to be hidden within the jail. On Saturday May 14, a bullet and razors were found in a washroom at the Penetanguishene jail, and correctional officers believed the bullet wouldn't be there without a pistol. Correctional officers asked for the jail to be locked down until the gun was found, but The Mirror was told management refused. "We were called at 11a.m. with a work refusal by 275 correctional officers at the facility," said Bruce Skeaff, ministry of labour spokesperson. "It was a disagreement between the workers and management in regards to the search of the facility."

May 17, 2005 Midland Free Press
Management and Training Corporation jettisoned the word 'acting' before Phill Clough's title earlier this month as he was named the new administrator at Central North Correctional Centre. Clough had been acting facility administrator since former jail boss Doug Thomson — who'd run the prison since July 2001, four months before CNCC opened its doors to inmates — resigned last November.

March 18, 2005 Midland Free Press
Tom Elliott continues to seek justice for his dead son Jeffrey. A pretrial has been scheduled for the end of April for the $150,000 wrongful death suit launched by the Elliott family against the Province of Ontario, Management and Training Corporation (MTC) of Canada, and First Correctional Medical. The purpose of a pretrial is to bring the parties together to discuss the case and the issues to be presented in court. The lawsuit was filed months before the jury in the Ontario coroner’s inquest ruled in September that Jeffery Elliott died accidentally while at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene. The 20-year-old Beachburg man died from blood poisoning in August 2003, after cutting his hand on a food hatch at the jail operated by MTC, a private company based in Centerville, Utah. Jeffery had less than a month remaining on his one-year robbery sentence when he died. “I still stick by the same thing. It’s not a money issue it’ about principle,” said Mr. Elliott, explaining why he launched the lawsuit. “It was obvious in Jeffery’s case it was a lack of treatment (that caused his death).  It was a tragedy.” Elliott said he would agree to withdraw his lawsuit if the jail was placed in public hands.

February 25, 2005 Midland Free Press
One inmate has his ear ripped off and another was stabbed several times with a three-inch screw nail in separate incidents, Saturday at Central North Correctional Centre, according to prison sources. Sources said the first altercation was prolonged because of a computer failure in the unit which prevented the doors from opening, forcing the crisis team to take the long way around. The first incident, which happened midday, was an inmate-on-inmate fight, and one of the prisoners "had his ear ripped right off," said a correctional officer who requested anonymity. Computer problems have plagued the prison for months and have led to work refusals by guards, citing their safety was compromised. The officer said the recent failure was isolated to one unit, adding staff are becoming increasingly frustrated by door and computer malfunctions. The Free Press recently reported that the ministry had paid for computer upgrades. "The computers being fixed, that's a crock," said the guard. "They give us all kinds of excuses. It's obvious we've got big-time problems." The second incident happened Saturday evening when about 32 inmates were being escorted from the chapel back to their unit. A fight erupted and one of the prisoners used a screw nail as a weapon, said the guard. One of the inmates sustained "several" puncture wounds to the head, chest and side, said the officer, who estimated the screw nail was about three inches long and about 3/8 of an inch thick. They said the inmate was treated in the prison medical unit.

February 15, 2005 Midland Free Press
Work refusals by correctional officers last year at Central North Correctional Centre were not the catalyst for the installation of new computer hardware and software, says a ministry official. Julia Noonan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services' corrections branch, confirmed there were computer upgrades at CNCC just before Christmas. The local prison was plagued by computer malfunctions last fall, including a crash that reduced central control to half-capacity and led to a prisonwide lockdown. At the time, guards said this created a dangerous scenario in the admission and discharge area. Other maladies included door and interlock failures, intercom glitches, as well as loss of camera control, audio alarms and duress signal failures.

December 7, 2004 Midland Free Press
An inquest into the death of a Central North Correctional Centre inmate begins Dec. 13 at the Midland courthouse. Joseph Balog, 20, of Barrie, collapsed Sept.29, 2003, within three hours of arriving at the Penetanguishene jail.  He was taken to Huronia District Hospital where he died two hours later.

November 29, 2004 Midland Free Press
A correctional officer at Central North Correctional Centre was arrested Sunday and charged with drug-trafficking and breach of peace for allegedly selling cocaine and marijuana inside the so-called superjail. This is the second guard this year to face drug-related charges. Following a year-long investigation, Southern Georgian Bay OPP arrested the guard Sunday at around noon, said Const. Greg Chinn. A 37-year-old Oro-Medonte Township man has been charged with trafficking a controlled substance and breach of peace. The arrest marks the second time this year that a guard has been charged with a drug-related offence. In March, a 29-year-old correctional officer from Penetanguishene was arrested on his way to work by the OPP and charged with drug trafficking, breach of trust and threatening after a month-long investigation by the provincial crime unit. However, ministry spokesperson Tony Brown said it's up to Management and Training Corporation — the Utah-based company that has a five-year contract to run the jail — to deal with the situation.

November 19, 2004 Midland Free Press
The Free Press has learned that a recent work refusal issued by a correctional worker cites more computer problems at the superjail, but a Ministry of Labour inspector deemed it did not pose immediate danger to the guards. The work refusal was issued by a correctional officer in the early morning hours of Nov. 4. Ministry of Labour spokesperson Belinda Sutton said the work refusal was called in after three alleged computer crashes the night before, and correctional officers said it posed a threat to their safety. Sharon Dion, a member of the prison's Community Monitoring Committee and an advocate for the abolishment of private prisons in Canada, said she is at her wit's end regarding continual defects within the jail. "This is absolutely ridiculous," said Dion. "If (Management and Training Corporation) cared about its correctional officers, they'd deal with this promptly."

November 9, 2004 Midland Free Press
The first and only administrator to oversee Central North Correctional Centre has resigned. Effective last Friday, Doug Thomson resigned his post as facility administrator at the so-called superjail. Thomson started his career in 1979, as a correctional officer in Ottawa, moving around the province to other facilities. He was promoted through the ranks until eventually becoming a superintendent. Thomson was hired by Utah-based Management and Training Corporation to head up CNCC, Canada's first privately run adult prison. He began the job in July 2001, and the jail opened in November 2001.

October 29, 2004 Midland Free Press
This is in response  to Management & Training Corporation's diatribe ("MTC defends accreditation," Oct. 22, 2004) about Brian Dawe's Oct 15 "Letter of the Day" questioning the American Correctional Association (ACA) accreditation of MTC's Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC). MTC's Peter Mount never addressed any of the points Mr. Dawe raised.  Instead, Mr. Mount resorted to a personal assault on Mr. Dawe and his organization, Corrections USA. Not once did Mr. Mount defend the credibility or the significance of ACA's accreditation. Why didn't Mr. Mount just present evidence to counter the claims that: *  ACA has never failed an institution, during an accreditation audit? *  ACA refuses to release the results of its audits? *  ACA ensures that positions on its board and committees are filled with for-profit private prison operators? *  ACA has accredited some facilities in the United States that have later been sites of excessive staff-on-inmate violence? In January 2004, Abt Associates released a report for the U.S. Department of Justice called "Government's Management of Private Prisons."  This report says the following about ACA accreditation: Achieving ACA accreditation is not an outcomes-based performance goal.  Rather, ACA standards primarily prescribe procedures.  (Emphasis in original) The great majority of ACA standards are written in this form:  "The facility shall have written policies and procedures on ..." The standards emphasize the important benefits of procedural regularity and effective administration control that flow from written procedures, and careful documentation of practices and events.  But, for the most part, the standards prescribe neither the goals that ought to be achieved nor the indicators that would let officials know if they are making progress toward those goals over time. I guess now Mr. Mount will be calling the Abt and the U. S. Department of Justice zealots. However, it is nice to know that if there is a riot at the CNCC, MTC may have the paperwork to show it has had a riot. In full disclosure and before Mr. Mount attacks my commitment to the fight against for-profit private prisons, I am the executive director of the Private Corrections Institute, an advocacy group that presents the "other side" of the story on private prisons. Don't take my word about the horrors associated with profiteering of the incarceration of human beings. PCI backs up its claims with documentation, without resorting to character assassination. Ken Kopczynski, Private Corrections Institute

October 22, 2004 Midland Free Press
A jackknife was discovered in Unit 2 at Central North Correctional Centre, Sunday afternoon, according to a prison employee. Prison spokesperson Peter Mount could not confirm whether a weapon had been found. A union representative and correctional officer inside CNCC, who requested anonymity, said the discovery of weapons is growing tiresome and dangerous. “Obviously we have a problem,” said the correctional officer. “They (management) are finally admitting there is a problem, which has taken about three years.” A few weeks ago, correctional officers found a pocketknife after two inmates were stabbed last month. Another inmate was stabbed to death in May. Fear of weapons in Unit 6 ultimately led to a work refusal. Due to the possible dangers, correctional officers issued their second work refusal in two weeks. On Oct. 7, correctional officers issued a work refusal after the central control computer was reduced to half-capacity; guards also had concerns that duress signals in some of the living units may not have worked properly had there been an emergency while the main computer was down. With the recent concerns over possible weapons in Unit 6, union representatives and management could not come to an agreement about how to solve the problem, so a Ministry of Labour health and safety inspector was called in. The Ministry of Labour inspector ordered that Unit 6 be searched thoroughly. A ministry memo states, “The employer should take every reasonable precaution to protect the (health and safety) of a worker. The employer’s operating procedures require a mandatory once-every-two-weeks search of the inmate living areas. This order applies to Unit 6.” Correctional officers have repeatedly told management there needs to be regular searches every two weeks, not monthly, as has been happening. Belinda Sutton, a Ministry of Labour spokesperson, said the memo essentially reinforced the jail’s existing policy. “The employer already had the search policy of once every two weeks in place,” said Sutton. “The Ontario Ministry of Labour issued an order for the employer to follow its own internal procedure.” The prison’s biweekly search policy is “adequate,” said Mount, though he would not comment further on how often searches are actually conducted, citing potential security risks.

October 15, 2004 Daily Observer
The family of a 20-year-old Beachburg man who died after sustaining a cut to his hand while serving time in Canada's only private jail is suing the company that operates the institution and the province for $150,000. Jeffrey Elliott's estate, his father Tom Elliott and his grandmother Elizabeth Elliott, are each seeking $50,000 in general damages from Management and Training Corporation Canada and the provincial government.

October 15, 2004 Midland Free Press
Central North Correctional Centre underwent a prisonwide lockdown last Thursday after the jail’s main computer was reduced to half-capacity. A malfunction to the prison’s central control computer system — believed to be caused by faulty hard drives — led to a work refusal by correctional officers. The failure made for an unsafe environment in the admission and discharge area where about 40 prisoners were waiting entrance to the prison. According to sources representing union interests inside the jail, only two of central control’s four computers were operational. The malfunction meant opening and closing of doors inside the prison would be slowed substantially, said the correctional officer. The crash also put added stress on officers in central control area. At that point a work refusal was issued, they said. “They fix things fairly quickly when there’s a work refusal,” said the correctional officer. This is not a new problem, however. Both mechanical and technical glitches have been ongoing for about six months, said the correctional officer. Six work refusals have been issued in the past at the so-called superjail. Other work refusals were issued due to inadequate searches and sub-par staffing levels.

October 13, 2004 Midland Mirror
Another inmate has been stabbed at the Central North Correctional Centre. On Oct.9, a 21-year-old man was sent to the Huronia District Hospital after he was stabbed several times in his upper body, at approximately 8:30 a.m. This is the third stabbing at the jail this year.  An incident in May resulted in death, and a stabbing occurred last month.    Peter Mount, communications director at the Central North Correctional Centre, said jail isn't releasing any details and is completing its own investigation. When asked by The Mirror if the super jail is a safe place, Mount said there is no way to measure that. "There's no qualitative measure of what's safe." While Mount said administration has a good relationship with correctional officers, he did confirm there was a 'refusal-to-work' situation last week.

October 10, 2004 VRLand News
The O.P.P. are investigating another stabbing at Canada's only privately operated prison.  At the C.N.C.C. facility in Penetanguishene, a  21-year old inmate was stabbed several times.

September 29, 2004 The Mirror
At Monday night's council meeting, Midland Police Chief Paul Hamelin told council the prevalence of crack cocaine in the community is on the rise, and he attributed it to the Penetanguishene jail. "Our intelligence officer reports that we are beginning to see a correlation between criminal activity in our community, and the Central North Correctional Centre," said Hamelin. Through investigating cases of crack cocaine and other drugs in the community, Hamelin has been in contact with officers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and said they have been able to trace some of those cases back to the jail. Hamelin said he never guessed crime within Midland would be on the increase as a result of the jail, which opened in 2001. "This is not something we anticipated with the jail. In the beginning, there were more concerns of (inmates) moving to this area, much like you see in the federal system."

September 25, 2004 Toronto Sun
AFTER 24 hours of deliberations, a coroner's jury decided that the death of inmate Jeffrey Elliott was accidental, but the young man's father says he does not agree with the verdict. The decision, along with 11 recommendations, came after a two-week inquest that explored the details behind the death of the 20-year-old Beachburg man. Elliott died a painful death last year from blood poisoning after a small cut on his finger became horribly infected. Most of the recommendations were directed at Canada's only privately run prison, the Central North Correction Centre (CNCC) in Penetanguishene, where Elliott was serving a one-year sentence. The jury asked for more stringent hygiene methods, better medical record keeping and better education and treatment of hand infections.

September 21, 2004 The Star
By the time an inmate at Canada's first privately run jail was sent to a hospital, a tiny cut on his finger had become so seriously infected a lot of the fat and tissue had been destroyed, an inquest has heard. "The long tendons to the finger had also been eaten away by the pus,'' Dr. James Lacey, a plastic surgeon who operated on Jeffrey Elliott, told the inquest in Midland yesterday. Elliott, 20, cut his finger on the food hatch in the door of a fellow inmate's cell at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene on Aug. 1, 2003. He died Aug. 29, 2003, of an acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage resulting from septic complications of a hand injury. By Aug. 9, Elliott's wound was seeping pus, indicating it was "in an advanced stage" of tenosynovitus, a serious infection of the tendons. But a doctor didn't see him until two days later, the jury heard.

September 16, 2004 Toronto Sun
Three days after a deadly infection began to spread its way through inmate Jeffrey Elliott's body, he needed emergency care. Instead, an inquest heard yesterday, prison medical staff pumped a multitude of antibiotics into him for three weeks, which may have contributed to his slow, ugly death last year. "They missed the boat ... he needed urgent emergency care and he didn't get it," Dr. Paul Binhammer, a hand surgeon at Sunnybrook hospital, told a coroner's inquest in Midland yesterday. He said medical staff at Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, Canada's only privately run prison, didn't heed obvious signs of the deadly infection that killed Elliott. Three days after the prison doctor put two stitches in his finger on Aug. 1, 2003, he stuck his swollen hand out of his cell hatch to show a passing nurse. He complained again a few days later. Both times he was given Tylenol and ice.

September 14, 2004 Ottawa Citizen
After Day 1 of an inquest into the death of Jeffrey Elliott, it remains unclear just how the 20-year-old acquired a cut on his finger that ended in his blood poisoning death. Mr. Elliott, an inmate at Canada's first privately run corrections facility, died in Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto on Aug. 29, 2003, four weeks after sustaining the cut on the inside of his right-hand ring finger. Mr. Elliott had only 23 days left on a robbery sentence in the controversial Central North Correctional Centre in Pentetanguishene, called the "super-jail." The outcome of the inquest may have a bearing on the future of Canada's first and only privately run corrections centre. U.S.-based Management Training Company (MTC) is contracted by the Ontario government to run the facility. Dr. Moran, a Barrie doctor who visits the facility on Fridays, was at the correctional centre on the day Mr. Elliott sustained the cut. Crown attorney David Russell questioned the doctor's report, which states silk sutures were used for the wound, a series of questions that went on for about an hour. "The jail has never had silk sutures," Dr. Moran told the inquest, unable to provide an explanation for the mixup.

September 10, 2004 Midland Free Press
Following a pair of stabbings at Central North Correctional Centre, an anonymous correctional officer at the superjail said a lockdown and subsequent search yielded a pocketknife, the same week a report was leaked to the media about modicum staffing levels. Because of staff shortages, searches aren't performed as regularly as they should be, said the correctional officer. At least one anti-privatization supporter says the memo should open the public's eyes once and for all about staffing levels inside the jail. "The words come straight from one of their administrators," said Sharon Dion, head of Citizens Against Private Prisons Penetanguishene, and a member of the prison's community advisory committee. "If it's a concern to them it should be a community concern. The OPP is investigating a pair of stabbings that happened last Saturday at CNCC. A 21-year-old Toronto man received a puncture wound to his leg, and a 20-year-old man, also from Toronto, sustained a puncture wound to his chest and a cut on his thumb.

September 3, 2004 Midland Free Press
A draft internal memo says staffing issues makes scheduling a nightmare and that the Central North Correctional Centre is not in compliance with its contract with the province. The internal draft memo from deputy of operations Phil Clough to superintendent Doug Thomson said staffing issues mean shift scheduling "doesn't meet the needs community escorts, particularly when they are admitted to hospital." A guard and union spokesman from the publically-run Superjail near Lindsay compared the Superjail to the Titanic. Barry Scanlon, a guard at the publicly run superjail in Maplehurst, and representative of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said the institution was "ripe for disaster."Chronic understaffing at Ontario's privately run superjail has led to inadequate supervision of the maximum-security institution and of inmates escorted into the community, the internal document suggests. Clough also wrote that trying to schedule shifts properly was "an exercise in futility," raising concerns over public safety. "The present shift schedule...doesn't meet the needs of community escorts, particularly when they are admitted to hospital." Critics seized on the confidential review of staffing levels as proof that Utah-based Management and Training Corporation which operates the 1,200-bed Central North Correctional Centre was putting profits before public safety. When the former Tory government announced the new jail would be privately operated, it assuaged community fears by promising tough standards a private operator would have to meet. Those standards - including minimum staffing levels - were enshrined in a contract between the company and the province that runs to 2006. However, the memo obtained by the union two weeks ago and apparently written at the end of May or in early June, indicates the company had failed to live up to its end of the deal. "On a regular basis, we are not in compliance with the contract," it says bluntly. Dan Gregoire, a former guard at the jail, accused the company of failing to come clean with the government and public. "Please, for the safety of the community, the inmates and for the staff...it's time to remove this private operator," said Gregoire. Four people have died during their custody period at CNCC since May of 2003. A recent trail into the attack on an inmate in the prison yielded no convictions, despite the attack taking place in the facility during a snack period for the inmates. The victim was yanked out of the food lineup with a pillowcase over his head and dragged to a cell, where he was stabbed more than 30 times with the sharpened end of a pink toothbrush. He was also kicked, choked and beaten.  His legs were placed over the bunk and jumped on by two or three other inmates, leaving him with broken ribs and ankles, a concussion and multiple stab wounds. 

September 3, 2004 Midland Free Press
A draft internal memo says staffing issues makes scheduling a nightmare and that the Central North Correctional Centre is not in compliance with its contract with the province. The internal draft memo from deputy of operations Phil Clough to superintendent Doug Thomson said staffing issues mean shift scheduling "doesn't meet the needs community escorts, particularly when they are admitted to hospital." A guard and union spokesman from the publically-run Superjail near Lindsay compared the Superjail to the Titanic. Barry Scanlon, a guard at the publicly run superjail in Maplehurst, and representative of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said the institution was "ripe for disaster."Chronic understaffing at Ontario's privately run superjail has led to inadequate supervision of the maximum-security institution and of inmates escorted into the community, the internal document suggests. Clough also wrote that trying to schedule shifts properly was "an exercise in futility," raising concerns over public safety. "The present shift schedule...doesn't meet the needs of community escorts, particularly when they are admitted to hospital." Critics seized on the confidential review of staffing levels as proof that Utah-based Management and Training Corporation which operates the 1,200-bed Central North Correctional Centre was putting profits before public safety. When the former Tory government announced the new jail would be privately operated, it assuaged community fears by promising tough standards a private operator would have to meet. Those standards - including minimum staffing levels - were enshrined in a contract between the company and the province that runs to 2006. However, the memo obtained by the union two weeks ago and apparently written at the end of May or in early June, indicates the company had failed to live up to its end of the deal. "On a regular basis, we are not in compliance with the contract," it says bluntly. Dan Gregoire, a former guard at the jail, accused the company of failing to come clean with the government and public. "Please, for the safety of the community, the inmates and for the staff...it's time to remove this private operator," said Gregoire. Four people have died during their custody period at CNCC since May of 2003. A recent trail into the attack on an inmate in the prison yielded no convictions, despite the attack taking place in the facility during a snack period for the inmates. The victim was yanked out of the food lineup with a pillowcase over his head and dragged to a cell, where he was stabbed more than 30 times with the sharpened end of a pink toothbrush. He was also kicked, choked and beaten.  His legs were placed over the bunk and jumped on by two or three other inmates, leaving him with broken ribs and ankles, a concussion and multiple stab wounds. 

September 1, 2004 The Star
Understaffing at Ontario's only privately run jail means the facility's U.S. operators are routinely violating their contract with the province, a confidential company document says.  The internal memo, prepared by company officials at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, highlights serious problems resulting from understaffing and concludes: "We are in a situation where on a regular basis we are not in compliance with the contract."  The memo says the prison, which opened in 2001 and is run by Management Training Corp. of Utah, has too few staff to protect the public properly when prisoners leave the prison.  It states the "present shift schedule ... is not meeting needs, is inefficient, has staff on shift where they are not needed and insufficient staff where they are, doesn't meet the needs of community escorts particularly when (inmates) are admitted to hospital."  The memo also says there was not even enough staff to provide proper searches to keep drugs and weapons out of the maximum-security jail.  

August 31, 2004 The Star
Chronic understaffing at Ontario's privately run superjail has led to inadequate supervision of the maximum-security institution and of inmates escorted into the community, an internal document suggests.  Critics seized on the confidential review of staffing levels as proof that Utah-based Management and Training Corp., which operates the 1,200-bed Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, was putting profits before public safety.  The memo, written by the jail's deputy of operations Phill Clough to its superintendent Doug Thomson, outlines numerous problems at the three-year-old facility.  "Searches are not being done in a systemic manner," the memo states.  Clough also wrote that trying to schedule shifts properly was "an exercise in futility," raising concerns over public safety.  "The present shift schedule doesn't meet the needs of community escorts, particularly when they are admitted to hospital."  Barry Scanlon, a guard at the publicly run superjail in Maplehurst, Ont., and representative of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said the institution was "ripe for disaster."  "We don't want (guards) coming out in bodybags," said Scanlon.  "Central North Correctional Centre Titanic is what it is. It's just waiting for that iceberg to come up."  When the former Tory government announced the new jail north of Toronto would be privately operated, it assuaged community fears by promising tough standards a private operator would have to meet.  Those standards — including minimum staffing levels — were enshrined in a contract between the company and the province that runs to 2006.  However, the memo obtained by the union two weeks ago and apparently written at the end of May or in early June, indicates the company had failed to live up to its end of the deal.  "On a regular basis, we are not in compliance with the contract," it says bluntly.  "We have everything in place to address any compliance issues as they emerge," said Adrian Dafoe.  Still, New Democrat Peter Kormos accused management of the facility of "recklessly and consciously risking public safety," and called on the province to take over the prison immediately.  While no inmates have managed to flee the facility, in August 2002, rioting erupted at the institution and almost 100 inmates almost escaped using a battering ram.  There have been about four or five deaths, including one who was knifed and another who died from medical problems caused by a cut on his hand.  Kormos accused management of the facility of "recklessly and consciously risking public safety" and called on the province to take over the prison immediately.  "It's become obvious that the private prison experience has been a total failure," Kormos said.  Dan Gregoire, a former guard at the jail, accused the company of failing to come clean with the government and public.  "Please, for the safety of the community, the inmates and for the staff it's time to remove this private operator," said Gregoire.  

July 9, 2004 Midland Free Press
Three men charged with severely beating a fellow inmate at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene were found not guilty Thursday.  The jury at the trial got a glimpse of life behind the high-wire fence of the so-called superjail.  During the four-day trial, which started June 30 in the Superior Court of Justice in Barrie, the nine-woman, three-man jury was told that the victim Thomas Smuck, was savagely beaten while serving time in the superjail for sexual assault and forcible confinement.   His attackers grabbed him while he lined up for the evening snack - called jug-up - on April 27, 2002. They covered his head with a pillow case and as he passed in and out of consciousness dragged him into a cell where they stabbed him 47 times with a filed-down toothbrush.  Smuck told the court he didn't know who his assailants were, but one sat on his chest while another punched him in the face.  Then, with his feet hanging over the edge of the bed, another jumped repeatedly on his legs and broke both of his ankles.

May 20, 2004 Barrier Examiner
Four inmates at the Central North Correctional Centre were charged Wednesday in connection with the death of another inmate earlier this month.  Minh Tu, 28, died from a stab wound on May 5.  Police continue to investigate the death of Tu, the fourth inmate to die at the prison, commonly referred to as the superjail, in the last year.  Inquests have yet to be held to examine the deaths of two other inmates.  

May 11, 2004 Midland Free Press
Minh Tu has been identified by police as the Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) inmate who died last Wednesday in hospital following an altercation with another prisoner. A post-mortem examination determined Tu, 28, died as a result of a stab wound. Tu is the fourth CNCC inmate to die in the last year, and a coroner's inquests will be held into the death.  

May 7, 2004 Midland Free Press
A male inmate wounded in an altercation yesterday at the Central North Correctional Centre died two hours later in a Midland hospital.  He is the fourth inmate to die in the last year.  Police from the Southern Georgian Bay OPP detachment cordoned off the living unit at the privately-run prison where the incident occurred to conduct an investigation. 

May 6, 2004 Toronto Star
An inmate has been stabbed to death at Ontario's only privately run provincial prison, officials confirmed yesterday.  "There was a stabbing, the inmate was taken to hospital and he died and there is currently an investigation into the incident," said Adrian Dafoe, a spokesperson for Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter.  Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene has been dogged by controversy, including health and safety issues, since the maximum-security jail opened in November, 2001. It is the first murder at the jail.  

March 22, 2004 The Mirror
A 29-year-old jail guard may be spending some time on the other side of the bars after he was charged by police for bringing a controlled substance into the workplace. The man, a correctional officer at the Central North Correctional Centre, was arrested while driving to work on March 13, after a month-long investigation by OPP. He has worked at the super jail for approximately one year, and was charged with trafficking a controlled substance, breach of trust by a public officer, and threatening. 

Colorado Department of Corrections
February 28, 2006 Pueblo Chieftain
A private prison company is looking at Fremont County as the possible home for two private prisons that could grow to a 4,250-inmate population. So with nearly 8,000 inmates already living here, can the county take on more than half that number in new inmates? Management Training Corp., based in Centerville, Utah, is hoping so. The corporation runs private prisons throughout the U.S. including Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, and now is checking out Fremont County for two potential private prisons. Consultant Nolin Renfrow, who retired from the Colorado Department of Corrections after a 28-year career, is taking on the developer role in an attempt to bring all the players together to make it happen."I was intrigued by MTC - a private business, a refreshing group with solid credentials. They are heavy into programs and working with the inmates and I am just pro-corrections. . . . I believe there are certain people who need to be locked up. "I hate the thought of turning some inmates loose if there are not enough beds. So, here I am, hoping to oversee the programming, designing and construction, then I'll turn the keys over to MTC," Renfrow said. MTC has decided to submit a proposal for both the two new private prisons and hired Renfrow to come up with a plan.

Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility, Eagle Mountain, California
March 21, 2007 The Press-Enterprise
Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, reiterated her opposition Wednesday to reopening a private prison at Eagle Mountain, a remote community in Riverside County. The 500-bed facility closed in 2003 shortly after a riot that killed two inmates and injured dozens. This week, Senate Republicans proposed reopening the prison as part of their plan this week to reduce prison crowding. Garcia, whose district includes Eagle Mountain, said she will only support using the prison as a minimum-security facility staffed by state correctional officers. "I want to be clear and direct -- I am adamantly opposed and will fight any effort to reopen a private prison at Eagle Mountain under any conditions," Garcia wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary James Tilton.

September 14, 2006 The Press-Enterprise
A Houston-based corrections company hopes to reopen a 500-bed lockup in Eagle Mountain, three years after lawmakers closed the privately operated prison. Riverside County officials confirmed Thursday that they've received a proposal from Cornell Cos. for a 150,000-square-foot correctional facility in the remote community near Joshua Tree National Park. Cornell Cos. officials did not return telephone calls seeking comment this week. The company's Web site says it operates 79 correctional facilities in 17 states, including California. Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the state has asked contractors to submit their plans for operating 8,500 prison beds for men and women. Information about the bidders and their proposals is confidential until the state awards the contracts Nov. 17, Thornton said. Plans submitted to Riverside County call for $27 million in new construction at the Eagle Mountain site and say the project would create 150 jobs. County Supervisor Roy Wilson, whose district includes Eagle Mountain, said officials have promised to fast-track Cornell's proposal to help it meet strict state deadlines, if the company receives the contract. But Wilson said he expects the project to be vetted before the county Planning Commission before coming to the Board of Supervisors for consideration. "They need some kind of economic development out there," Wilson said. "It's a ghost town. It's in dire straits." Five people live in Eagle Mountain. Mary Zeiler, resident of Eagle Mountain for 36 years, said she was sorry to see the minimum-security prison closed in 2003 when state lawmakers cut funding for the prison run by Utah-based Management & Training Corp. Two months before its closure, the prison, a converted supermarket, fell under scrutiny when two inmates were killed and seven inmates were injured in a riot. Kay Hazen, spokeswoman for Kaiser Ventures, said she had not seen Cornell's proposal but that Kaiser welcomes any opportunity to use the prison as a solution to the state's shortage of prison beds. Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, R-Cathedral City, said she would like to see the state house inmates there but not under a private contractor. "I am not supportive of any private prisons," Garcia said.

July 12, 2005
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone on Tuesday challenged the sheriff to come up with a better plan than his own for relieving the county's overcrowded jails. Stone's challenge came during his barbed exchange with Riverside County Undersheriff Neil Lingle, in which Stone defended his idea of converting a defunct Eagle Mountain prison into a county jail for $10.8 million. Eagle Mountain resident Larry Charpied said he worked at the prison prior to its closure and experienced several riots there, some of which resulted in multiple inmates' deaths. The Eagle Mountain prison closed in 2003 when its private operator lost state funding. "It was not safe and that's why the state closed it," Charpied said.

November 29, 2004 Desert Sun
What was the result of the preliminary hearing for the eight men accused of killing two fellow inmates during a race riot at the Eagle Mountain Correctional Facility in October 2003? All eight men were held to answer charges in the deaths of Master Hampton, 36, and Rodman Wallace, 39, both of Los Angeles County, Nov. 1 after a preliminary hearing which stretched over a three-week period, according to Riverside County court records. If the defendants are convicted, they face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The eight were charged after the 2003 prison riot during which several inmates were injured. One of the injured inmates was Asian and the others, along with Hampton and Wallace, were African-American. Their alleged attackers were Hispanic and Caucasian inmates, according to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department reports. The prison, which was operated by the Utah Based Management and Training Corporation, has since been closed due to budget cuts.

October 15, 2004 Desert Sun
A preliminary hearing got under way this week in what could be the biggest single murder case in California history in terms of the number of defendants. Eight men are charged with murder in the deaths of two fellow inmates at the former Eagle Mountain Correctional Facility during a race riot a year ago. The eight were charged after the October 2003 prison riot during which several inmates were injured. The prison was closed two months later due to budget cuts, said Margot Bach, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman. Eagle Mountain was operated by the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation. Several of the defense attorneys contend the deaths could have been avoided. "Nobody from MTC was authorized to use force or weapons," said Arnold Lieman, Mayfield’s attorney. A Department of Corrections officer had a key to the prison’s weapons arsenal but worked days and was gone when the riot broke out, Lieman said.

March 5, 2004
Fourteen men charged in an allegedly racially motivated prison riot that killed two men in the Eagle Mountain Correctional Facility in October made their first court appearance in the case Wednesday.  Judge B. J. Bjork set a March 17 arraignment date for the men whose charges range from murder to assault.  All 14 were arrested on warrants Tuesday.  Three of the men -- David Olivares, Peter Morales and Jason Hernandez --are charged with two counts of murder each by the Riverside County District Attorney’s office, reported Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Taylor of the Central Homicide Unit.  Anthony Rimoldi, Eric Lewis, Byron Mayfield, Jose Rodriguez and Hector Careyo were each charged with one count of murder, he said.  Those eight also face special allegations that the crimes were race related.  Six others who participated in the melee at the now closed Desert Center facility about 30 miles east of Indio were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon along with an allegation for committing the offense while housed in state prison.  The men were charged after a four-month investigation conducted by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in which more than 500 interviews were conducted, Taylor said.  During the investigation into the riot, which killed two and injured six African-American inmates and injured one Asian inmate, officials learned the incident was race related.  (The Desert Sun)

March 4, 2004
Eight inmates at a privately run prison were charged with murder Wednesday in an October riot that left two convicts dead, officials said.  The four-month probe of Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility by Riverside County sheriff's investigators and the district attorney's office also resulted in six additional inmates being charged with assault with a deadly weapon.  "The evidence will show the defendants' behavior was animalistic, primitive and racially motivated," said Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Ulli McNulty, who is handling the case. "The crime scene they left behind was death and devastation."  The 90-minute fight involving 150 inmates pitted a group of Hispanic and white inmates against a group of black prisoners. They fought with barbecue skewers, meat cleavers, table and chair legs, and two-by-fours. Others fought with mop and broom handles.  (AP)

January 5, 2004
The Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility, which used to house more than 430 minimum-security prisoners, is one of three private prisons forced to shut down as part of a decision by the Davis administration and the state legislature.  The private prison on Wednesday ended its 15-year run as the Chuckwalla Valley's biggest employer.  The empty facility, which was run by Centerville, Utah-based Management & Training Corp., is owned by Kaiser Ventures, the former steel and iron ore mining company that also owns the town of Eagle Mountain and land around it.  "This is it," prison security chief Clay Lambert said by phone.  "It's kind of sad. The people who lived and worked here are realizing now that it's like breaking up a big family almost."  Most of the employees and their families lived in the town of Eagle Mountain, a community created by Kaiser when it operated its mine here until the early 1980s. The town had been boarded up for several years before the prison opened.  The families now living in housing subsidized by MTC and Kaiser have to be out by Jan. 15, said Jan Roberts, who manages Kaiser's mine reclamation project. "We can't operate the town on an individual base without a cluster of people."  (Press Enterprise)

January 5, 2004
A company-owned mining town that died once in the early ’80s will become a ghost town again today when the sole employer -- a private prison -- closes its doors for good.  "It’s sad to see Eagle Mountain go into a ghost town twice," said Michael Keegan, facilities foreman for Kaiser Ventures Inc.  The industrial giant built Eagle Mountain in 1944 to house miners and their families.  When the iron mines closed nearly 40 years later, the town’s church, store and 337 company homes were left to a slow decay.  "A lot of people come back to reminisce, they bring their grandchildren, and they’re sad to see how things have become," Keegan said.  When the private Eagle Mountain Correctional Facility opened in 1988, portions of the town gasped back to life.  Kaiser Ventures made some of Eagle Mountain’s homes inhabitable for prison workers and their families. Under a contract with the prison’s operator, Management & Training Corporation, families paid as little as $145 a month for a three-bedroom home. Utah-based MTC provides about 16,000 prison beds nationwide.  While some prison employees found the isolated location to be a sort of hell, others fell in love with the desolate desert and its silence. The closest supermarket is about 60 miles away.  "I love it here. It’s a nice place for your kids. There is peace and quiet and at night you can see every star," said correctional officer Lisa Reynolds. She will hang up her uniform today after nearly 13 years at the prison. Reynolds is moving with some of her friends and family to Redding, but says she will miss Eagle Mountain.  "I guess this pretty much puts a lid on it," she said, stepping through the empty prison barracks. Prison employees have 15 days to evacuate their homes. Keegan, who works for Kaiser overseeing infrastructure for the community, estimated it will take 90 days to fully shut down the Eagle Mountain community. Then he, too, will be out of a job.  A kindergarten through eighth-grade school will remain open at least until June for the 20 or so children whose families live in the outskirts of Eagle Mountain.  Without this major employer in the area, the school, the only school in the Desert Center Unified School District, will likely have to lock its doors.  If the school closes, students remaining in the district will likely have to be bused to the Palo Verde Valley, which means a three-hour round trip for the K-8 students.  Whether or not the hard scrabble mining-turned-prison town will get a third crack at life remains to be seen.  Los Angeles County might eventually fill in the 1,500-foot-deep mining craters with its trash if it can work through the technical and environmental challenges.  But as of Tuesday there were no takers for the bleak rows of boarded-up houses, a secondhand prison and broken-down roads with red winter weeds pushing stubbornly through the cracks.  Riverside County Supervisor Roy Wilson said he is hopeful the old prison might be used for a drug rehabilitation center or something similar.  "It’s a crying shame. That private prison could handle prisoners more cost-effectively than the state," Wilson said of the prison’s closure. At the prison -- a converted strip mall with free-standing buildings circumscribed with razor wire -- prison employees and a handful of inmates worked to clear out boxes of records, furniture and prison supplies. Bitterness over the closure was tangible Tuesday.  "We had been holding out hope, even up to today, but it does not look good," said Clay Lambert, chief of security at Eagle Mountain for 15 years.  All of the minimum-security prison’s 432 inmates were either shipped to state-run prisons or paroled to community-based programs. Some of the 98 employees will go to work for other out-of-state prisons operated by MTC.  Many in Eagle Mountain blame pressure from the powerful California Correctional Peace Officer’s Association union for the closure of the facility, the only private-run prison in the state where inmates have died. Two men were killed when racial tensions broke out into a riot in October, in a situation Lambert called "extremely unfortunate."  Two other privately operated prisons in California also will be closed today in Baker and Mesa Verde. Those three prisons and two others -- Live Oak’s Leo Chesney women’s prison and Wackenhut’s McFarland Community Correctional Facility -- were targeted by the state Department of Corrections and former Gov. Gray Davis for closure back in 2001. The Davis administration proposed closing the five privately operated prisons as a budget-cutting move to save $5 million from the state’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit.  The move to close the prisons fell apart shortly before they were then scheduled to close on June 30, 2002.  Jan Roberts, director of Eagle Mountain Operations for Kaiser Ventures, said she was surprised at the prison’s closure, despite its long struggle to stay open.  "I have a deep, profound disappointment," said Roberts. She has been in Sacramento several times over the past three months lobbying for Eagle Mountain’s survival.  "I am working every day to find a use for our facility and town site," she said.  Roberts said she is outraged the state would close down a prison that costs $38 a day less per prisoner than state-run facilities. Each prisoner in state facilities costs taxpayers an average of $28,000 a year.  Prisoners at Eagle Mountain were employed by Kaiser as day laborers at minimum wage to perform work in the community. Some of that money was returned to victims’ assistance programs and 20 percent to the state to cover their room and board.  "We are getting a double whammy," Roberts said.  While Tip Kindel could not deny the union has been pressuring the state to close private operations like Eagle Mountain, the acting assistant secretary for external affairs of the California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency said union pressure was not the deciding factor in its closure.  Most of the prisoners in Eagle Mountain were minimum-risk parole violators serving short-term sentences, Kindel said.  Many, he said, would be better served in community programs that cost the state about $2,100 a year, near their family support systems and jobs.  "The Department of Corrections is trying to assist parolees to success. We want to find community-based ways of taking care of them in a way that does not jeopardize the community," Kindel said.  Facilities like Eagle Mountain could be operated for less, Kindel said, because they did not take in ill, or high-risk inmates with greater needs and demands.  As residents prepared Tuesday to turn out the lights on Eagle Mountain, however, there was a weariness with the bureaucracy they believed was forcing them from their homes and jobs.  "What town?" asked correctional officer Ruben Hirst, when talking about the future of Eagle Mountain. "This prison was the only thing that kept this area alive."  (The Desert Sun)

November 30, 2003
The gas station is shuttered and the old savings and loan long gone. The movie house is dark, too. Some folks – driving through the quiet community – no longer bother braking at stop signs.  There's not much life left in Eagle Mountain, a former mining camp deep in the Riverside County desert.  In a few weeks, the tumbleweeds may claim it for good.  At the end of December, state corrections authorities plan to shut off funding for the community's last remaining industry – a privately managed prison.  And that, locals say, will mean the end of this once-vibrant company town.  "It just makes me want to sit down and cry," says longtime resident Connie Ottinger.  The facility is among three private prisons in California due to close Dec. 31 as part of what former Gov. Gray Davis and legislators portrayed as a cost-cutting move.  Officials with the California Department of Corrections say fewer low-security prisons – including a wave of private facilities that opened in the late 1980s – are needed because of a steady decline in non-violent offenders statewide.  The Eagle Mountain facility, which houses 240 men, is run by Utah-based Management & Training Corp. under contract with California officials.  Many around town believe the closure demonstrates the political muscle of the state prison guards union – the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The association has long opposed privately run, nonunion prisons.  Jeannette "Jan" Roberts of Kaiser Ventures, which owns the community, notes that privately managed prisons cost less to operate per inmate than public facilities.  "It does not make economic sense to close this prison and close this town," says Roberts, operations director with Kaiser and a longtime Eagle Mountain resident. "We shouldn't let the union rule this state."  Hoping for an 11th-hour reprieve, Roberts and others are trying to persuade Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers to keep the prison afloat. The rookie politician filmed one of his action flicks – "Terminator 2: 3D" – in Eagle Mountain about a decade ago.  "GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: PLEASE SAVE OUR SCHOOL AND TOWN," reads a sign on the edge of the community.  But with the closure weeks away, folks here figure they may have little more than a fool's hope.  "All of our best efforts may not be enough," Roberts says.  The town has faced extinction before.  In 1983, Kaiser Ventures shut down an iron mine that had been in operation since World War II. Hundreds of miners left town, forcing the closure of a movie house, gas station and other businesses.  The prison opened five years later during a statewide crackdown on crime.  Today, about 350 people reside in the remote community, renting houses provided by Kaiser. Most work at the prison.  Eagle Mountain is roughly 125 miles northeast of San Diego.  Savings to state  Terry Thornton, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman, says the closure of Eagle Mountain, along with two private jails in central California, will save the state nearly $900,000 over the next four years.  She dismissed concerns that the closure is part of a power play by the guards' association, while a union official called the idea "utterly ridiculous."  Lance Corcoran, a spokesman with the guards' association, says allowing a private corporation to house state inmates only benefits the business, not the public.  "The commitment of private business is to the bottom line, to a corporate board of directors," Corcoran says. "Public safety should not go to the lowest bidders."  According to state corrections officials, the cost of housing an inmate in a privately managed prison is $17,000 a year, compared to $28,000 in a state facility.  But Corcoran and others say the cost gap isn't as wide as it appears. Unlike state prisons, private facilities are not required to fund the cost of transferring prisoners and other key expenses.  Dozens of Eagle Mountain inmates were transferred out in October following a jailhouse riot that left two convicts dead. The violent incident is under investigation.  The riot is believed to be the first of its kind at a privately managed prison in California.  Folks around Eagle Mountain call the riot unfortunate, but hope state officials don't see it as another excuse to close the prison down.  Tears fall  Ottinger, 45, has lived in the area 35 years and is secretary at Eagle Mountain School, a K-through-8 campus. She remembers when the iron mine shut down and tears up at the prospect of the prison closure.  "I can't stand the idea of that happening again," she says.  She believes Eagle Mountain was an ideal place to grow up. Neighbors looked out for neighbors. Kids biked around town and few worried for their safety. Weekends were for barbecues.  "People ask me why I would stay in a place like this. And I say you don't know what it was like growing up here."  The school, which has about 50 students, has enough state funds to stay open for the rest of the academic year.  Kaiser has proposed converting part of the old mine into a landfill, giving the community another lease on life. But the proposal has been slowed by environmental challenges.  Carl Stuart, a spokesman with Management & Training Corp., said his business has proposed the creation of a drug rehabilitation center at Eagle Mountain.  In the meantime, his company is in discussions with the governor's office to save the prison. "We haven't given up hope," he says.  Roberts tries to stay upbeat too, but knows the days may be numbered. Some prison employees are moving out. Others have stopped watering their yards.  "I've been the eternal optimist," she says. "But it's very difficult to remain optimistic."  (The San-Diego Union-Tribune)

October 29, 2003 LA Times
More than 130 inmates have been transferred out of a privately run state prison in eastern Riverside County after a weekend riot there left two convicts dead and tensions at the low-security lockup unusually high. State corrections officials said a melee Saturday night at the prison in Eagle Mountain involved about 150 inmates and raged for 90 minutes before a warning shot fired into the ground by an off-duty correctional officer quelled the fighting. The deaths were the first violence-related fatalities at any of the nine California prisons run by private corporations under contract with the state, a corrections official said. 

October 28, 2003
Two men were killed and seven others were injured during a riot at Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility.  The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Sunday that the riot occurred shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday night.  Deputies reported that one man died at the prison and the other man died at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio.  The other injured inmates were taken to JFK, Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs and Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, according to the sheriff’s department.  Deputies said the riot started with an altercation between a group of white and Hispanic inmates who reportedly attacked a group of black inmates at the facility.  The names of the two dead men have not been release pending notification of their families. Autopsies have been scheduled for this week on the bodies of the two inmates who were killed.  Sheriff’s Department Central Homicide Unit is investigating the case with help from deputies in the Blythe, Indio and Palm Desert sheriff’s stations.  Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility is a private prison that houses male prisoners for the state of California.  (The Desert Sun)

August 27, 2002
Poor Bill Simon.  even when he wins, he loses.  It should be a major coup when the Republican candidate for governor snags the endorsement of one of the oldest and most respected names in Latino politics: the Mexican-American Political Association, known as MAPA.  After years of voting increasingly Democratic, are California Latinos opening their minds to Republicans?  There is one interesting wrinkle in all of this.  Angel Diaz, a Delano businessman who helped round up support for Simon among the chapter presidents who backed him last weekend, runs a Central Valley political committee that raises money from individuals and companies and distributes it mostly to Latino candidates.  The group, known as Adelante, appears to bean extension of the Maranatha Private Corrections Co. and its top executive, Terry Moreland, who have given the committee a combined $70,000 since 1999.  With Davis having promised the state's prison guards union that he would eliminate private prisons, Maranatha and its allies have good reason to fear a second Davis term- and thus to support Simon.  So it could be that behind the veneer of Latino politics, this was just a good old-fashioned business deal.  As usual, when all else fails to bring clarity in politics, follow the money.  (Sacramento Bee)

June 3, 2002
Eagle Mountain, named for the rose-colored peaks on its northern edge, fears it is on the brink of disappearing.   Founded in 1947 as an outpost to mine iron ore, the town managed to outlast the mine by converting old miners' dormitories into a state prison in 1988. But now the Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility is one of five prisons scheduled to close at the end of June, signaling not only the possible end of this windswept desert community of 300 residents, but also the waning of a national boom in prison building.   After decades of growth, state prisons have become a prime target of cutbacks. The reasons: the national drop in crime, state budget shortfalls, the easing of some strict prison policies, and changing public opinion about how to handle criminals, particularly those convicted of drug-related offenses.  Nationally, $1 of every $14 in states' general funds is spent on corrections, according to Vincent Schiraldi, president of the Justice Policy Institute, a Washington-based organization that advocates reducing incarceration rates.  So-called three-strikes laws, requiring violent offenders convicted of a third felony to be held for 25 years to life without parole, also being reconsidered.  Throughout the nation, states are finding ways to reduce the inmate population.  (The Bradenton)

April 25, 2002
Eastern Riverside County residents pleaded with lawmakers Wednesday not to shut down Eagle Mountain's sole industry, a private prison.  "This community will close," warned Jeanette "Jan" Roberts of Desert Center.  A Senate budget panel voted 2-0 to keep open the Eagle Mountain prison, another in Baker in San Bernardino County and three in the Central Valley.  But the powerful state prison guards' union and Gov. Davis want the five private lockups shut down after June 30, when their contracts with the state expire.  Craig Brown, a lobbyist for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which represents guards who work at state prisons, said the nine private prisons mask their true cost by shipping chronically ill inmates back to the state Corrections Department for care.  (The Press-Enterprise

December 3, 2001
There is the "possibility" that the Department of Corrections could reduce or pull on funding for the 438-bed Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility.  The stated reason is fiscal belt-tightening.  (The Press Enterprise)

East Texas Intermediate Sanction Facility, Longview, Texas
September 30, 2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
In other business Thursday, county commissioners allowed the sheriff to move forward with plans to convert the Marvin A. Smith Regional Juvenile Center to the Marvin A. Smith Criminal Justice Center. With the county's jail population hovering around capacity, the county plans to take the already-closed juvenile facility and turn it into a low-risk adult detention facility in April. He also said after the meeting that Management and Training Corp., which leases a total of 300 beds in the county's jail, has been put on verbal notice that the county currently is not in a position to renew its contract, which expires in February 2007. The sheriff said officials are working with the company on finding a new place to house those inmates when that time comes.

Giles W. Dalby Correctional Facility, Post, Texas
January 17, 2001 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Sixteen federal prisoners confined to the Giles W. Dalby Correctional Facility in Post filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday alleging violation of due process and their civil rights. The inmates, all immigrant aliens in the United States, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Lubbock. Management and Training Corporation runs the private prison, which contracts with the federal government to house inmates. The lawsuit claims that Dalby inmate receive inadequate medical care, food, rehabilitation programs and legal supplies, among other complaints.

August 1, 2000 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal 
A corrections officer suffered a concussion in a riot early Sunday morning at a medium-security prison in Post after being struck by an object thrown by an inmate, a county judge Giles Dalby said Monday. He said the riot started on "Main Street," a wide outdoor sidewalk area that splits the facility's two holding areas. According to Dalby, about 500 inmates gathered on the sidewalk at about 8:30 pm. Saturday and began loitering and making demands to the correction officers. "The officers were able to talk them down to about 250 inmates," Dalby said. "When the officers told them to lock up at around 12:30 am, some obeyed and some didn't. A crowd of about 10 inmates stayed in the area." The inmates then began to break wooden picnic tables and set them on fire. They also pulled gutters off the side of the building and damaged seven surveillance cameras, Dalby said. "That is when we pulled our people back to safety and called the safety response team," Dalby said. According to Dalby, the number of inmates involved in the riot swelled to about 200 as the mayhem continued. The facility's response team was called in at about 1:45 am Sunday and dispersed the crowd in 9 minutes using tear gas, Dalby said. 

Hood County Juvenile Detention Center, Hood County, Texas
February 1, 2006 Hood County News
The now abandoned county juvenile detention center drew attention from two county judge candidates at the political forum Monday night for candidates in the March 7 Republican primary. Precinct 2 county commissioner Charles Baskett placed the blame on county judge Andy Rash for the loss of $837,00 in operating expenses at the juvenile detention center (JDC). Rash countered that the county inherited the JDC problem and took action to try and protect their credit rating. In addition to Baskett and incumbent judge Rash, former Granbury mayor Rick Frye is also seeking election to the position of county judge. Baskett said the juvenile detention center was built by an outside contractor, who then leased the facility to the county. The county then sub-leased the facility to MTC, the company that ran the facility as a JDC for about a year. “At the end of a year, they had lost $1.2 million. They (MTC) cancelled their lease with the county and left town,” Baskett said. “I tried to find someone to come back in to run the facility as a JDC. No one was interested. They couldn’t make the numbers work. “Then the juvenile board came up with a budget, and it was put on the commissioners’ court agenda to determine whether Hood County should run the facility.” Baskett contends the center was supposed to be run by a private enterprise, and that the county had no business getting involved in managing the center. “It was a 3-2 vote to run the center on our own. We had no obligation to do it,” Baskett said. “We ran it for a few months and lost $837,000 before we had to discontinue. We held the lease. We could have given it up. “They said they were worried about losing our bond rating, and that’s why we should continue to operate the facility. We lost it (bond rating) anyway. “We should have never tried to run that facility ourselves. Now our bond rating is BBB.” “Had we terminated our lease and not attempted to operate, both Standard and Poor, and Moody threatened to lower our bond rating to BBB-,” he said.

Kyle Unit, Hays County, Texas
March 16, 2008 Austin American-Statesman
Two men who escaped from a Kyle private prison were apprehended this afternoon, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The two men were apprehended while walking on County Road 158 about three miles east of the facility, according to Jason Clark, a public information officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Jeremy Trevino, 21, and Justin Doty, 23, escaped from the Kyle Unit in Hays County over a wall in the recreation yard shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday. Clark said the two men were imprisoned there for parole violations. “Anytime an offender escapes, we always work quickly to get them back into custody,” Clark said. “You just don’t know what they’re capable of.”

Lake Erie Correctional Institution, Conneaut, Ohio
May 18, 2005 AP
Ashtabula County's budget problems are so severe that dozens of crimes committed at one of the state's two privately operated prisons aren't being prosecuted. The northeast Ohio county doesn't have enough money to handle all the crimes reported, Prosecutor Thomas Sartini said. Some crimes reported at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution are being overlooked as a result. "I don't like not to prosecute any case that's a legitimate case," Sartini said. "I've always taken the position that we're going to prosecute cases to the fullest extent, but if I've got one hand tied behind my back, it's a little tough to do. So we're in a position where we've had to make some calls. The only crimes consistently prosecuted from the prison involve inmates assaulting guards or attempts to smuggle drugs into the prison. State Highway Patrol records show that inmate attacks on other inmates are usually overlooked. Prisoners aren't being prosecuted for having weapons, either.

March 14, 2004
An inmate at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution was found badly beaten Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The inmate, identified as Bobby Donaldson, 22, was reportedly struck by a padlock placed inside a sock, officials said.  (Star Beacon)

January 24, 2003
CONNEAUT - The state prison perched on Conneaut's East Side generated nearly $400,000 for the city's budget last year, nearly half of that in municipal income-tax revenues, according to figures provided by Finance Director John Williams.  The information has been relayed to Gov. Bob Taft, who on Wednesday confirmed he will close at least one state prison to help heal a $720 million budget deficit. The Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut has not been excluded, officials have said.  The medium-security prison is operated by Management and Training Corp., of Utah, and MTC employees - more than 250 people - paid nearly $125,000 in city income taxes, Williams said.  The prison also buys a huge amount of water from the city. Water revenue from the prison was $88,000, while sewer revenue was $159,000, Williams said.  Conneaut counts on prison-related revenues to help pay off its prison-related debt. To entice the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to consider a Conneaut site for its first privately managed prison, the city offered gifts of land and infrastructure.  While the state contributed more than $39 million to the prison project - primarily in construction costs - Conneaut agreed to absorb nearly $2.1 million in expenses. The city's expenses include sewer lines ($647,000), waterlines ($591,000), a mandatory water tank ($532,000) and land ($309,000). Loans were obtained to help the city handle the costs.  The city bought nearly 500 acres of land from USX Corp. and donated some 175 acres to the state for the prison. The balance of the acreage is home to the East Conneaut Industrial Park and the city's compost site.  State Rep. George Distel, D-Conneaut, has said the loss of the prison would bankrupt the city since it would lose its main method of repaying the prison debt. Distel has said he has shared Williams' information with Taft's office.  (The Staff)

Management and Training Corporation, Ogden, Utah
January 31, 2007 KSL TV
A Utah-based company has been forced to pay back wages to hundreds of current and former employees in Texas following an investigation. Management and Training Corporation --- which is headquartered in Centerville, Utah -- has paid nearly $486,000 in back wages to just over 260 current and former security guards. That's according to a U- S Labor Department new release. An investigation by the labor department found employees had NOT been properly paid over a two-year period between October 2003 and September 2005. Federal officials say the company failed to pay proper overtime --- meal breaks when employees worked beyond their schedules and the correct fringe benefits. The company has agreed to comply with future contracts.

December 17, 2005 Deseret News
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday that Management & Training Corp., headquartered in Centerville, has paid $169,105 in back wages to 393 employees at five locations in Utah, Indiana, Ohio and New Mexico. The back wages were paid following an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division for compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Labor Department said in a statement. Supervised by the department, MTC conducted a companywide self-audit and found that some employees, including security personnel, were not paid for all hours worked. MTC employs more than 2,000 workers at 24 Job Corps Centers and six correctional facilities throughout the country.

Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility, Tucson, Arizona
February 11, 2010 AP
A private prison in Arizona is on lockdown after a brawl broke out that involved as many as 150 minimum-security inmates and left a staff member and 12 prisoners with minor injuries. The Arizona Department of Corrections said the fight broke out before 10 p.m. Wednesday but was contained within an hour. A 20-member tactical unit from Arizona State Prison Complex-Tucson responded to help put down the disturbance. The Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility near Tucson houses 500 inmates and is owned and operated by Management and Training Corp., based in Centerville, Utah. The cause of the fight is under investigation.

June 21, 2004 Explorer News
The chief of security for the Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility was fired June 1 and a sergeant resigned May 26 over allegations the sergeant had prisoners do pushups in lieu of written discipline.  Company spokesman Carl Stuart would not comment on why Capt. Ken Anderson was fired or why Sgt. Ben Rumbo resigned, saying the company does not comment on personnel matters. The Utah-based Management and Training Corporation operates the Marana prison and a prison in Kingman for the Arizona Department of Corrections and nine other private prisons in five states.  Anderson, who was the company's Correctional Officer of the Year in 1999, said he was shocked and outraged over his firing. In a four-page written appeal he filed with the company June 7, Anderson called the termination notice he received, "nothing more than a fabrication of half-truths and outright falsehoods, sprinkled with occasional facts."  He said he believed he handled the allegation of prisoners being made to do pushups properly based on the information he had at the time.  Since his forced leave and termination, Anderson said he has learned of allegations about other prison guards making prisoners do pushups, possibly since January, yet no other guards have been fired or suspended, or apparently even interviewed by state investigators.  Stuart said the company doesn't know how long or how often prisoners have been made to do disciplinary pushups at the prison. 

McKinley County Detention Center, Gallup, New Mexico
January 5, 2007 Gallup Independent
It took the jury less than two hours with lunch included to find Brian Orr not guilty of using his power at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center to sexually abuse three female prisoners in 2003. The issue in the trial centered around the fact that jurors had to decide who was telling the truth the three female prisoners from Wyoming or Orr, who worked at the facility at the time. The three women told the jury of having girlfriend-boyfriend relations with Orr, getting gifts and being abused. One woman told of being handcuffed nude in his office while he took photos of her on his digital camera. The problem was that was all the jury had to go by the words of the three women. There was no corroborating evidence and Steve Seeger, Orr's defense attorney, stressed in his closing arguments the background of the three women and the reasons why they were in jail in the first place. Pointing out their crimes, which ranged from forgery and passing bad checks to distribution of methampthemines, he asked the jury "would you buy a vehicle" from them? In the end, the jury apparently decided not to believe anyone and issued a statement after the verdict about "the poor quality of the investigation" and their belief that it wasn't done "in a professional and competent manner."

January 3, 2007 Gallup Independent
Testimony began Tuesday in the Brian Orr case. Orr faces three counts of criminal penetration stemming from accusations made by three Wyoming women, who were incarcerated in the McKinley County Adult Detention Center in 2003 and 2004. Two of the three accusers testified Tuesday, claiming that they had a boyfriend-girlfriend type of relationship with Orr while they were incarcerated. Orr at the time was a captain at the jail. One of the women claimed that on one occasion as she was being moved from one area of the jail to another Orr put a hand down her pants and inserted his finger inside her. The other woman claimed Orr did the same thing to her once when she was in his office. Both women claimed that Orr made promises to each of them about a future after they got out of jail, brought them gifts and gave them favorable treatment. Orr, who was terminated from his position after the charges were made, was also sued in civil court by the three women. Also named in the suit were McKinley County and Management Training Center, the private company that ran the jail at the time. A settlement was eventually made in the civil suit and McKinley County officials said that no county money was involved. MTC and its insurance company agreed to pay the settlement, the terms of which were kept confidential, although one of the accusers at the trial said she received $55,000 as her share of the settlement. This civil suit is expected to play a major role in the criminal case with Steve Seeger, Orr's defense attorney, asking the accusers how the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit on behalf of the female inmates, got involved in the case in the first place. Both women testified that the ACLU contacted them and not the other way around. This led Mike Calligan, chief deputy prosecutor for the McKinley County's District Attorney's Office, to ask permission to call to the stand Wednesday one of the ACLU attorneys to explain how the organization got involved in the case.

January 28, 2006 Gallup Independent
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police arrested fugitive and former McKinley County Adult Detention Center supervisor Bryan Orr this week in connection with the sexual assault of two female inmates. Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Calligan on Friday confirmed Orr's arrest in the Las Vegas area. Orr was wanted in McKinley County on charges of criminal sexual contact with an inmate. The charges stem from his tenure as a lieutenant at the detention center. He resigned from his position with the facility in 2005 and failed to appear for his arraignment on the criminal charges in August. Sheila Black, 28, and Christine Herden, 23, had been jailed at the detention center in Gallup in 2003 because there was no room for them at the Wyoming Women's Center in Lusk. The women claim Orr sexually assaulted and took nude pictures of them during their stay at the facility. Orr is also a target of a federal lawsuit filed by The American Civil Liberties Union that cites "cruel and unusual punishment" on his behalf. The McKinley County Board of Commissioners and former managing agent, Management and Training Corporation, were also named in the suit for failure to properly supervise and train Orr.

January 24, 2006 Casper Star-Tribune
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against a New Mexico detention officer, alleging he sexually assaulted two female inmates from Wyoming at a Gallup, N.M., jail and photographed them in the nude. At the time of the alleged incidents in 2003, the inmates were housed in New Mexico because of overcrowding at Wyoming's only female correctional institution, the Wyoming Women's Center in Lusk. The lawsuit claims sexual abuse and cruel and unusual punishment by Detention Officer Brian Orr of the McKinley County (N.M.) Detention Center. The complaint was filed on behalf of inmates Sheila Black and Christine Herden. The ACLU alleges that Orr repeatedly sexually assaulted the two women and photographed them in the nude, causing physical injury and severe psychological and emotional distress. The complaint also alleges that the jail's acting warden, Gilbert Lewis, the McKinley County commissioners and the Centerville, Utah, company that managed the jail, Management and Training Corp., were negligent for failing to properly train and supervise Orr.

September 4, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
McKinley County is terminating its contract with the Utah-based company that has been operating the county jail, a facility plagued by problems. Four inmates escaped from the jail, run by Management & Training Corp., on July 4, after being left unsupervised in a recreation yard. All four were later captured or surrendered, but investigators said the escapees had a three-hour head start because guards at the jail did not miss them until a head count later that day. MTC also operates the Santa Fe County jail and that facility too has had problems. Warden Cody Graham, who formerly headed the Santa Fe County jail, was fired a week after the escape. In Santa Fe, a nine-member state audit team found the jail needed to improve inmate classification, grievance procedures, discipline, records and inmate programs. 

July 11, 2003 Albuquerque Journal
The McKinley County jail's warden and the lone corrections officer who was left in charge of 80 inmates during a Fourth of July jailbreak have been fired. Management & Training Corporation, which manages the McKinley County Adult Detention Center on a contract, took the action after a series of security failures on the Independence Day holiday allowed four inmates, including three suspected in killings, to escape. 

July 7, 2003 AP
Law enforcement officials are investigating why an escape from a privately run county jail went unreported until one of the four fugitives, injured jumping from the jail roof, showed up at a hospital a few hours later. Two of the inmates, including one charged with murder, were still on the run this morning. "We in law enforcement are totally disgusted, and it's disheartening," said McKinley County Sheriff's Deputy Ron Williams. The four escaped by leaping three floors from the jail's rooftop exercise enclosure during an exercise period that began about 9 a.m. Friday, authorities said. Law enforcement officials found out about the escape more than three hours later when one of the inmates, Manuel Vasquez, 32, hitched a ride to a hospital, where doctors became suspicious of his explanation for his fractured heel and cut arm and called police, Williams said. (AP, July 7, 2003 )

May 19, 2002 Albuquerque Journal
The McKinley County jail was locked down Sunday after disgruntled inmates set a mattress on fire, jail officers reported. Eleven inmates locked themselves in a section of the jail where the fire started, but the incident was quickly quelled, said Sandy Aragon, director of communications at the Gallup-McKinley County 911 center. The inmates came out and the fire was extinguished, Aragon said. 

Mohave County Prison, Mohave County, Arizona
March 29, 2007 The Daily News
Mohave County supervisors will decide on whether to end a contract with an Oklahoma firm that built the county's only prison. Mohave County Manager Ron Walker is asking supervisors to terminate a September 1999 contract between Mohave Correctional Services LLC and the county to build and operate the state prison, which opened in August 2004 and is located about 15 miles southwest of Kingman. The contract states that MCS would pay Mohave County $3,000 a month in administration costs and provide housing for about 50 county inmates. The county has tried to make arrangements to house overflow county inmates but MCS has not complied. Walker also said MCS has not paid the county any of the administration costs in the contract, calling it a breach of contract. “We don't want to partner with anyone who hasn't lived up to the first piece of this contract,” Walker said. “Who are we dealing with here anyway?” Walker said if the supervisors approve, in 30 days if the money is not paid. the county will look at a contractual lawsuit for monetary default. The contract also provides for a 60-day notice to correct any non-monetary defaults, for example, transferring the contract to the prison's current operator without permission from the county. Utah-based Management & Training Corp. currently operates the prison, which houses about 1,500 inmates. The prison houses male inmates sentenced throughout Arizona on charges of drug possession and driving under the influence. Walker said the contract issue was brought up after MTC officials recently spoke to the board about partnering with the county to build a federal prison in the county. Jim Hunter, former vice president of MCS, said from Oklahoma that the contract was never validated when MCS sold the land to Mohave Prison LLC in April 2004. The Tucson firm holds the title and leases the land and the prison to the state for 10 years at which time the state will own the facility. Hunter also said MCS, which built the prison, does not exist anymore. He does not recall if MCS transferred the contract to another firm. The 1999 contract states that the contract is binding to the respective parties meaning the county and MCS' successors. Mike Murphy, vice president of corrections marketing for MTC, said at the previous supervisor meeting that MTC does not have a contract to provide housing for overflow county inmates or to pay the county any administration costs. The first 500 inmates arrived at the prison on Aug. 9, 2004, and were housed in two units. The second phase opened in April 2005 with permanent support buildings units and housing for an additional 1,000 inmates.

Nacogdoches, Texas
May 1, 2009 Daily Sentinel
The proposed private federal prison — the subject of months of debate in Nacogdoches — will not be built here, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said. The federal government rejected a proposal by the private prison operator Management and Training Corporation to build the facility because it was not competitive enough, according to an April 28 letter from Amanda J. Pennel, a contracting officer with the bureau of prisons. "After evaluating this proposal in accordance with the terms of the solicitation, it was determined that this proposal was not among the most highly rated proposals," the letter said. "A proposal revision will not be considered," the letter continued. Proposals were evaluated on criteria outlined in the federal acquisition regulation document, including as price and past performance. The letter did not include any specific information about why MTC's proposal was rejected, but MTC officials will be able to request a "preaward debriefing" with further information. In a statement, MTC Vice President Odie Washington said, "Although this project will not move forward in the community, MTC looks forward to perhaps one day working with community officials in the future." Officials with the city, county and the Nacogdoches Economic Development Corporation endorsed MTC's plan last summer because of the economic benefits they believed it would bring to the area. But the proposed prison also drew local critics who said the prison would erode the quality of life in Nacogdoches and said local government failed to consider the possible negative consequences of the facility. If approved, the prison would have been minimum security facility, primarily for holding illegal immigrants. NEDCO president Bill King said the jobs and salaries the prison would have created would have been helpful to Nacogdoches. "If you're going to have a correctional facility, kind of the gold standard would be a federal minimum security. They don't get much better than that," King said. "But it is what it is. We gave it our best show and we're looking forward to the next challenge." Several elected officials reached by telephone Friday shared their thoughts on the news. "We were hoping that it would bring 300 jobs to Nacogdoches county, so we're all a little disappointed. We needed those jobs, especially with the state of the economy right now," County Judge Joe English said. Asked if he would support another prison effort in the future, English said, "I think we're out of the prison business in Nacogdoches County." Representatives from the city weighed in on the issue as well. "The subject of the prison has definitely caused a lot of turmoil in the community, and as much as I personally regret that it's not coming, I'm glad that we finally have a closure to the project," Southwest Ward Commissioner Billy Huddleston Jr. said. Northeast Ward Commissioner Randy Johnson said he was "very disappointed" that the prison would not come because it would have helped the economy by creating jobs. Northwest Ward Commissioner Don Partin shared a tempered reaction. "It was nothing to get excited about because it was never a done deal," Partin said. "I'm just happy that the system took care of itself. I'm happy everything happened not because of anger or fear or greediness, but happened through the natural process." For opponents of the prison, the news came as a victory. "This is the best news that I've heard in a year or more," Paul Risk, chairman of the Citizens Opposed to the Prison Site group that staged demonstrations and informational campaigns against the project. "This prison would have been a blight on the image of Nacogdoches. This is Christmas in May."

January 19, 2009 Daily Sentinel
Around 40 people attended a Citizens Opposed to the Prison Site (COPS) meeting Monday, and the group's founder, Dr. Paul Risk, said the organization is moving forward with a petition that could change the city charter. Risk introduced a petition that would put an amendment on the ballot in May that would require the city of Nacogdoches to provide for initiatives or referenda in its charter. Five percent of registered Nacogdoches voters, or about 850 people, would need to sign the petition requesting the amendment, Risk said. If approved, the citizens of Nacogdoches could vote down or uphold decisions made by the city commissioners. The COPS group formed last summer to protest a proposed federal private prison that would be built inside Loop 224 on Northwest Stallings Drive. The city commissioners, county commissioners and Nacogdoches Economic Development Corporation unanimously backed the proposal, which would be built and operated by Management and Training Corporation. If Nacogdoches is chosen for the prison, MTC officials expect the facility to create 300 jobs and bring in nearly $1 million per month in salaries. Starting wages for correctional officers are likely to be around $30,000 to $32,000 per year, according to MTC representatives. County Judge Joe English said it is still too soon to say if a prison will end up in Nacogdoches, and he said city and county officials "don't even know if we're in the top 100" prospective sites. Risk said the group has made efforts to see if the county or city concealed information about the prison before it was put to a vote in the respective commission meetings. The COPS group recently made an open records request from the city and county for all correspondence, including e-mails and phone logs, between the local officials and MTC. The city provided about 2700 documents to the group, Risk said. Risk contacted the attorney general's office after the county denied their request, though English said the attorney general's office cleared the county of any wrongdoing. The county complied with the law, but the COPS group did not follow the correct procedures in their open records request, according to English. "Their original request was addressed to (County Clerk) Carol Wilson. When they send an open records request to Carol Wilson, they're going to get all the records she has," English said. "They requested her letters, not the judge's or the commissioners'. If they want information from my department, their (open records request) needs to be addressed to me." The group later corrected their request and English said the county supplied them with all available documents, though he said the group would receive little, if any, new information. The COPS group presented the commissioners with a number of articles and letters during a public forum in October, and those same documents accounted for the majority of the information the county delivered in response to the open records request, English said. "They have to pay 10 cents per copy, and basically they just bought back everything they gave us," English said. "I don't think they got what they thought there were going to get." Risk also said NEDCO declined to provide requested documents, though a lawyer from NEDCO said the organization is a privately run entity that does not have to abide by the Freedom of Information Act. The COPS group has also been circulating an informal petition with signatures from people opposed to the prison. Risk said the group now has around 2,800 signatures, or about 4.5 percent of the county.

North Coast Correctional Facility, Grafton, Ohio
September 10, 2009 Chronicle-Telegram
EMH Regional Medical Center is locked in a dispute with the private contractor that runs the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Grafton over unpaid medical bills for inmates treated at the hospital. A lawsuit filed earlier this year accuses Utah-based Management and Training Corp. of failing to pay $628,193.81 in medical bills it racked up for inmates between September 2006 and February 2009. But Tim Reid, the company’s attorney, said Management and Training doesn’t actually owe the hospital the money. Instead, he said, a former subcontractor is responsible for the outstanding bills. Management and Training has been paying its bills since severing ties with Arizona-based First Correctional Medical in May 2008, Reid said. That company, he said, ran into financial problems and fell behind in paying the medical bills under a contract with the hospital. But Management and Training didn’t realize how much money was owed until after the lawsuit was filed in May of this year, Reid said. “We realized there was a problem, but we didn’t know the extent of the problem,” he said. First Correctional and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction are not named as a party in the lawsuit, according to court records. Julie Walburn, an ODRC spokeswoman, said the prison system paid Management and Training about $15.4 million in fiscal year 2009 to operate the North Coast prison, which mostly houses prisoners convicted of drunken driving and other substance abuse crimes. “They’re responsible for providing medical care to inmates,” she said.

July 30, 2002 AP
Thirty-six inmates have been moved in the past week from their prisons to other institutions because of disciplinary problems. Twelve inmates were moved Tuesday from the privately run North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility in Grafton to the Marion Correctional Institution for refusing to wear proper uniforms, department spokeswoman Andrea Dean said. On Saturday, 24 inmates at the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster who would not return to their living areas were moved to other prisons, Dean said. The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents some prison workers, including guards, said removal of 12 inmates from the privately run prison, which has nonunion guards, demonstrates that the state puts its problem inmates in union prisons. "We shouldn't be cleaning up problems that for-profit companies created," said Darrell Starcher, the president of the union's local at the Marion prison. Dean said that none of the disciplined Lancaster inmates were moved to private prisons. "We're not targeting inmates in a private facility," Dean said. 

July 7, 2002 Chronicle-Telegram
The company that operates the North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility and the state' only other privately run prison has agreed to take a $400,000 cut in its contracts with state. The future of the privately operated prison here appears more secure after the state negotiated its contract to lower costs by $400,000. Management and Training Corp. of Utah, the company that runs North Coast Correctional Treatment Center in Grafton and another prison in Conneaut, agreed to the cut in contracts. But if the economy tumbles and further cuts are ordered, the local privately run prison, as well as the one in Conneaut, could be targeted for closure, he said.

Prescott Valley, Arizona
October 18, 2007 The Daily Courier
The town council will not support plans by a Utah-based company to consider the outskirts of town for a private prison. Overwhelming vocal opposition to a 2,000-bed, minimum-security prison for nonviolent male inmates apparently persuaded the council Thursday against proceeding with endorsing the prison. Opponents expressed concerns to the council about Prescott Valley having the label of "prison town," and facing declining property values and other negative effects. The council met Oct. 4 with representatives of Management and Training Corp., a Centerville, Utah-based company that proposed a 100-acre site a mile north of Highway 69 and parallel to Old Fain Road. The council did not take any formal action during the work/study meeting Thursday, but Town Manager Larry Tarkowski indicated he would not put a letter of support on the agenda for next Thursday. The sole support for the prison on the council came from Mary Baker, who cited the benefit of 500 jobs. Opponents in excess of 10 people dominated a packed council chamber. Council members also indicated that prison opponents bombarded them with e-mails and phone calls. "We had so many people who said 'no,' and I have to go with that," Mayor Harvey Skoog said after five people spoke out against the prison. Two people spoke in favor of the prison. "I am not worried about the prisoners that are escaping, but I am worried about the factor of the money you would lose on your house," opponent Frank Shank, a retired diesel mechanic and Teamster union representative from Detroit, said after the meeting. He said that he lost $50,000 on a house in Jackson, Mich., a number of years ago because of the presence of a prison. Prison supporter Linda Shimmin, a retired restaurant owner, faulted the review process for killing the prison plans. "I think the (council) decision is fine," she said after the meeting. "It's the process that concerned me. Management and Training was not here tonight. I think the visceral reactions might have been mitigated had Management and Training been allowed to make a presentation." Shimmin drew some applause - and a number of boos - when she pleaded her case for the prison during the council meeting. Audience members also applauded opponents who spoke at the podium and when the council members indicated that they would go with the will of the public. The council had scheduled the meeting in the first place to review the costs for water and other infrastructure for the prison.

Promontory Community Correctional Center, Draper, Utah
February 20, 2006 The Spectrum
Utah has one of the country's lowest incarceration rates, according to federal data, but is climbing from a booming population growth spurt that has increased the incarcerated population by 200 to 300 inmates each year. The Utah prison system is overwhelmed with more than 6,350 inmates statewide - including a large percentage housed at Purgatory Correctional Facility in Washington County - making more bed space desperately needed. Two facilities are being built, one in Gunnison and the other facility in Beaver County, where the state intends to rent 200 beds to house its inmates. Also, corrections is requesting another 192-bed facility to be built in Gunnison. Senate Bill 175, sponsored by Sen. Howard A. Stephenson, R-Draper, calls for the Department of Corrections to issue and evaluate a request for proposals from private prison contractors, county jails and other interested agencies for a 300-bed or larger minimum-security correctional facility to accommodate prison-sentenced criminals beyond that. We commend Stephenson and the corrections department for their foresight in dealing with the rising housing needs of criminals. However, taxpayers should urge lawmakers to do some analysis as they embark on mingling public and private enterprise, based on the state's history in that corrections partnership. Utah's first privately run prison, Promontory Correctional Facility - a 400-bed, low-security facility located on the northwest side of the Draper prison site, which was closed because of budget cuts - was administered by Ogden's Management and Training Corporation. Three weeks after it opened in August, 1995, two inmates escaped in broad daylight by crawling through a fence. Every year until it closed on July 1, 2002, there were one to two escapes. A pre-release program through that facility resulted in 102 parolees enrolled in it simply walking away within a 10-month period. One in particular was by 35-year-old Stan Lee Foster, a man convicted for a string of thefts and burglaries in Southern Utah. He was enrolled in the "cutting edge" halfway-back program in May 1999, but two months later hopped onto a bus in Sandy to go to work never to return. Six days after he walked away, he was fatally shot by an FBI agent investigating a rash of bank robberies. Aside from budget cuts that were cited for the closure of the prison, heavily-rumored high staff turnover rates and drug use by inmates were disclosed by media outlets. The mixture of the public and private sector of corrections through Promontory lasted a mere seven years. As SB-175 mandates the acceptance of bids for a new facility, and is considering recommendations from corrections to highly consider privatization for housing and treatment, we ask lawmakers to scrutinize the whole package privatization has to offer with a fine-tooth comb. While it is admirable to be looking toward the future to accommodate the increasing incarcerated population, it is just as important to learn from mistakes where failures occurred so as not to repeat them.

April 6, 1999 Salt Lake Tribune
Three prisoners who escaped from Utah's minimum-security prison at Draper on Sunday were arrested 12 hours later by police who were tipped they could find the fugitives at a Salt Lake City boarding house. One of the three -- Jason William Kirk, 21, of Arizona -- was already on parole but staying at Promontory, a pre-release center akin to a halfway house, until he secured outside employment. Promontory is owned by the state but managed by Management & Training Corporations (MTC). After working in the commissary at Promontory and helping prepare Easter breakfast around 8 a.m., the trio slipped to a grassy recreation area outside the facility. They were discovered missing after a routine 11:30 a.m. head count. 

June 16, 1998 Salt Lake Tribune
About 140 inmates at the Promontory pre-release facility at the Utah State Prison refused to go into their dorms Monday afternoon, prompting officials to use a gas grenade to disperse them. Prison spokesperson Jack Ford said the inmates were in a common room and outside at the 400-bed privately operated Promontory facility when they refused to return to their rooms for a 4p.m. head count. Fred VanDerVeur, the Department of Corrections director of institutional operations, said correctional officers used "some sort of gas grenade' to scatter the inmates, all of whom are minimum-security and within weeks of release. 

July 12, 1996 Salt Lake Tribune
Freddy Lee Wolfe was to be paroled from Utah State Prison on Aug. 27, but Thursday he decided his date with freedom was not soon enough. Prison officials say Wolfe, who is serving 5-year terms for forgery and theft by receiving, escaped at 12:30 p.m. while working at the Draper prison's meat-processing plant. He was discovered missing an hour later following a routine prisoner count. 

September 5, 1995 Salt Lake Tribune
It may not be an alarming threat to public safety, but neither is it a good sign. Utah's first privately run prison has been open less than three weeks, and two inmates already have escaped--in broad daylight, by crawling through a prison fence. The two escapees, Anthony Scott Bailey and Eric Neil Fischbeck, are not particularly dangerous characters. Fischbeck was serving time for burglary and drug possession, Bailey for burglary. They were assigned to the Promontory Correctional Facility, run by Management & Training Corp. of Ogden, because they were preparing for parole. 

Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico
November 19, 2007 New Mexican
Dickie Ortega lost his life at the hands of one man named Jesus and another named Good. And while a Santa Fe County jury's conviction of one of those men on second-degree murder and five other charges Monday provided some peace of mind, Ortega's mother said the tragic chain of events at the county jail that led to her son's death will remain a source of pain. "When they asked Dickie why he was there, he told them the truth, and it cost him his life," said Cordelia Martinez after the jury found Jesus Aviles-Dominguez guilty. "If it wasn't for doctors and medication, I don't know if I could go through this. I don't know if I'll ever get over it. It's like a nightmare." Martinez, her husband, Antonio Martinez, and her daughter and Ortega's sister, Delilah Brown, sat through every day of testimony in Aviles-Dominguez's trial, which lasted nearly three weeks. They also sat through the September trial of Daniel Good, who pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated battery involving death and two counts of intimidation of a witness in the middle of those proceedings. Cordelia Martinez said she was satisfied with the jury's verdict and thanked members for "doing their duty." "Well, at least I can put my son to rest now," she said. "He was a good and wonderful son." In addition to second-degree murder, the jury of eight men and four women convicted Aviles-Dominguez, 32, of two counts of intimidation of a witness and three counts of conspiracy. He was acquitted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, three counts of conspiracy and three counts of intimidation of a witness. Aviles-Dominguez, who had to serve only 20 more days in jail at the time of the assault on Ortega, now faces up to 52 1/2 years in prison. "Bitches," Aviles-Dominguez said to no one in particular as sheriff's deputies escorted him from the courtroom after his conviction. Other inmates who were in the pod at the county jail when Ortega, 32, was beaten to death testified that Aviles-Dominguez and Good were the co-leaders of the dormlike accommodations. Ortega, a Chimayó resident, allegedly made the fatal mistake of accusing a man he was arrested with on narcotics and receiving-stolen-property charges of being a snitch or a "rat," according to the inmates' testimony. Aviles-Dominguez and Good allegedly attacked and beat up the man Ortega accused, the witnesses said. However, another inmate stood up for the man who was attacked and said he wasn't a rat. That led to a series of at least three retaliatory beatings of Ortega — mainly at the hands of Aviles-Dominguez and Good — which became progressively more brutal, the inmates testified. Finally — according to two eyewitnesses — Aviles-Dominguez began stomping repeatedly on Ortega's head, which left him unconscious. Aviles-Dominguez and Good refused to allow one of the inmates to get medical attention for Ortega, an inmate testified. Aviles-Dominguez testified he didn't beat Ortega or the other man, and at one point tried to give them advice on how things worked behind bars. He also told jurors another inmate, Joe Coriz, stomped on Ortega's head, and Aviles-Dominguez broke up that beating. While the verdict was not what his client wanted, Gary Mitchell, Aviles-Dominguez's lawyer, said he thought the system did its job. "At the end of the day, I walk out thinking it was a fair jury, a fair prosecution and a fair judge," he said. "One can't complain about that. But with all the guys in there (when the beating occurred), we'll never know what in the Sam Hell happened." One of the big problems spotlighted by the Ortega case is understaffing at jails and prisons, Mitchell said. "You wonder where the hell were the detention officers in all of this," he added. At the time of the beating, one guard had been assigned to watch over three pods containing about 60 inmates, Sheriff Greg Solano said at the time. A second guard was assigned to man a control unit that overlooks six pods of more than 100 inmates, he said. A private company, Management Training Corp., ran the jail at the time, and a federal study had previously highlighted short-staffing as a problem. Ortega's family received a $600,000 settlement paid by MTC earlier this year after filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Prosecutors initially said they would seek the death penalty against both Good and Aviles-Dominguez. And though they later backed off those plans, state District Court Judge Tim Garcia ruled that if the penalty would have been in play, one jury would have had to decide the men's guilt or innocence while another would have decided the penalty. Good's attorney, Jeff Buckels, called the ruling "a huge fringe benefit."

August 30, 2007 The New Mexican
The mother of a Chimayo man who hanged himself in the Santa Fe County jail two years ago is suing the County Commission, the sheriff and the firm that used to run the jail. Michael G. Martinez, 39, was jailed Aug. 21, 2005, on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, assault on a peace officer, aggravated fleeing of a law-enforcement officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and other traffic infractions. Three days later, he was found dead, hanging from a cloth blanket tied to a light fixture in his cell in the medical ward of the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center on N.M. 14, south of Santa Fe. Sheriff Greg Solano said at the time that Martinez was put in the medical ward because he had needle marks on his arms and appeared to be in withdrawal, and he was on a suicide watch where jailers were to check on him every 30 minutes. Last week, lawyer John Faure sued on behalf of Martinez's mother, Elsie Martinez of Santa Cruz. The complaint says Management and Training Corp., which ran the country jail at the time, should have checked on Martinez every 10 minutes and searched the cell to remove “any dangerous article or clothing.” Management and Training Corp. has “maintained a custom or policy which exhibited indifference to the constitutional rights of person incarcerated ... which permitted or condoned deviations from appropriate policies,” the complaint says. By hiring the company, it says, Solano and the commission effectively violated Martinez's constitutional rights of due process and protection from cruel and unusual punishment. The complaint seeks “at least $10,000” for the expenses of Martinez's funeral and burial, plus punitive and exemplary damages for “intentional misconduct, recklessness, gross negligence, willfulness and/or callous indifference, and/or because defendants' conduct was motivated by malice, evil motive or intent.” Solano and a spokesman for Management and Training Corp. in Centerville, Utah, declined comment. The firm ran the county jail from 2001 to 2005, when county government again took over operations. Earlier this year, the firm was named as a defendant in a similar lawsuit brought by the parents of Chris Roybal, who overdosed on heroin while in jail in February 2005. It alleges Roybal got the drugs from a corrections officer. The court record indicates that case has been transferred to another jurisdiction.

August 29, 2007 New Mexican
When his fellow inmates at the Santa Fe County jail asked why he was incarcerated, Dickie Ortega made an explosive statement that might have cost him his life, lawyers said Tuesday. “He said, ‘It’s because my cousin ratted me out,’ ” prosecutor Joseph Campbell told jurors during opening statements Tuesday in the trial of Daniel Good, one of two men charged with beating Ortega to death in June 2004. “There are rules in jail,” Campbell said, “and one of these rules is that you don’t rat somebody out.” Jeff Buckels, Good’s attorney, said Ortega’s statement was like igniting a can of gasoline. “This was not the dorm at St. John’s or the boys locker room at Prep,” he said. “You better believe there are rules (in jail). One you hear over and over again is that rats are taken care of.” The consequences were first meted out to Brad Ortega, the man Dickie Ortega called his cousin, though they were not actually related, Campbell said. When Brad Ortega returned to the cell pod, he was ordered into Good’s cell and attacked by at least three men, Campbell said. After the beating, the men ordered Brad Ortega, who sustained a gash on his head, to strip off his bloody clothes, throw them in the trash and take a shower, he said. Meanwhile, the men cleaned the cell, Campbell said. While Brad Ortega was in the shower, one of the 20 inmates in the pod said he knew Brad Ortega and he was “a stand-up guy” and “he knows the rules,” Campbell said. At that point, he said, some of the inmates confronted and beat Dickie Ortega, a 32-year-old from Chimayó who was being held on receiving-stolen-property and drug-related charges. Afterward, Dickie Ortega also was ordered to strip off his clothing and take a shower, the attorney said. Later, Good, 34, and another inmate, Jesus Aviles-Dominguez, 31, made Dickie Ortega and Brad Ortega fight each other, though it was not a vicious brawl, Campbell said. After that, Good, Aviles-Dominguez and another inmate again beat the two Ortegas, then forced them to again take off their bloody clothes and take a shower while the cell was cleaned, he said. Finally, Dickie Ortega was beaten a fourth time, Campbell said. That time, he was forced against a wall and stepped on while he pleaded for his life, the lawyer said. Brad Ortega, Campbell said, watched the last beating, helplessly, from the upper bunk in their cell. Buckels admitted Good “popped (Dickie Ortega) a couple times” during the beatings, but Good didn’t kill Ortega. “In fact, he tried to stop it,” Buckels told jurors. “He was trying to save him from a man named Chuy.” Chuy — Aviles-Dominguez’s nickname — was the boss of the pod in which the Ortegas had been placed, Buckels said. And during the last beating of Dickie Ortega, Aviles-Dominguez “went berserk,” Buckels said. Aviles-Dominguez braced himself with one hand on the sink and the other on the bed and stomped on Dickie Ortega’s head, he said. “The violence he dealt to Dickie Ortega was a very different kind,” Buckels said. “He bounced his head off the concrete like a basketball. It was then that people started getting very concerned that this guy was in trouble.” Dickie Ortega’s mother, who was in court Tuesday, cried and held her hands to her face when Buckels described what happened to her son. “Daniel’s not here asking for a medal,” Buckels said. “He’s a bad boy at a bad time in a bad place. He wasn’t nice to Dickie Ortega. He just didn’t kill him.” After the beatings, the two Ortegas were not allowed out of their cell, Campbell said. An inmate later alerted guards to Dickie Ortega’s unresponsive and bloody condition, he said. Dickie Ortega’s injuries included a subdural hematoma, liver and spleen damage and bruising, Campbell said. Good, a Santa Fe man with a lengthy criminal record that includes both violence and property crimes, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery causing death, two counts of intimidation of a witness, two counts of tampering with evidence and six counts of conspiracy. His trial is set to last 16 days, though the days are spread out over the month of September and won’t conclude until the end of the month. Aviles-Dominguez is scheduled to go on trial in November for Dickie Ortega’s murder and the beating of Brad Ortega. The District Attorney’s Office announced in May that it would not seek the death penalty for either man. However, state District Court Judge Tim Garcia ruled in June that if prosecutors had decided to push for the death penalty in the case, he would have one jury decide the defendants’ guilt or innocence and another decide their sentencing.

May 7, 2007 AP
Two lawsuits stemming from the beating death of an inmate and a female prisoner's alleged rape at the Santa Fe County jail have been settled. Attorney Robert Rothstein, who filed the wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Dickie Ortega's family, said Friday that the terms of the settlement are confidential. An agreement reached in the lawsuit filed on behalf of Veronica Sanchez also is confidential, attorney's with Rothstein's firm said. Ortega, 32, died June 5, 2004, after suffering serious head and facial injuries and a crushed larynx. He had been arrested earlier that month on charges of receiving stolen properties. His family sued in 2006, claiming that Santa Fe County and the company that formerly ran its jail _ Utah-based Management and Training Corp. _ did nothing as gang members repeatedly assaulted other inmates. Inadequate staffing, lack of supervision of inmates and lack of video monitoring contributed to Ortega's death, the lawsuit claimed. Two men prosecutors identified as gang members have been charged with first-degree murder in Ortega's death. An MTC spokesman had no comment, and a county government spokesman said county attorney Steve Ross was unavailable to address the settlement. Federal court records show the case was dismissed March 29 _ a day after a motion was filed by Ortega's family, saying the plaintiffs had "settled and resolved" all disputes in the litigation. In Sanchez's case, attorneys say the lawsuit was dismissed Friday by agreement of all parties. Sanchez had reported that she was raped by other inmates at the jail in 2004 and then strip-searched after she was brought back to the jail after a hospital exam. The lawsuit claimed the search was "utterly useless and unnecessary and constituted further humiliation and degradation." It also alleged negligence and civil rights violation. MTC and various county officials were named as defendants.

July 7, 2006 New Mexican
Santa Fe County and the private company that operated its jail until April 2005 have agreed to pay $8.5 million to thousands of people who were strip-searched while being booked into the jail during a three-year period. While the county and Management Training Corp. deny in settlement documents that the blanket strip-search policy violated the law, a class-action lawsuit filed in January 2005 claimed it violated people's civil and constitutional rights. Terms of the settlement dictate that MTC, which ran the jail from October 2001 until April 2005, will pay $8 million while the county will shell out $500,000. Lawyers Bob Rothstein, Mark Donatelli and John Bienvenu will receive $2 million, while each of the 11 named plaintiffs in the lawsuit will be paid $42,750. The remaining people who were strip searched between Jan. 12, 2002 and December 2004, when the jail changed the strip-search policy, will have 30 days from the time a U.S. District Court judge affirms the agreement to file claims. Those people — estimated in settlement documents to number about 13,000 — will receive between $1,000 and $3,500. On Thursday, two of the named plaintiffs in the suit said while they were glad the case was over, they were even happier to have had a hand in sparing other citizens the embarrassment and humiliation they suffered. “That’s the best thing,” said Elizabeth “Lisa” Leyba. “That’s the thing that makes the emotional days all right.” Said Kristi Seibold, “It feels really good. It feels like we accomplished something — something really good and worthwhile for the people.” Leyba, 34, a bartender at Catamount Bar and Grille, was arrested in September 2004 for selling a beer to an underage customer sent in during a sting. Donatelli said a bouncer at the bar was supposed to be checking identification at the door, and the check was not Leyba’s responsibility. At the jail, Leyba said a female officer ordered her to strip naked and spin in a circle, which she apparently did too fast, so the guard ordered her to do it again, slower. She then had to stand in the room naked while the officer searched for jail clothing for her, Leyba said. “It was one of the last things I expected to have happen to me,” she said. “I was humiliated. It still bothers me.” Leyba, who initially didn’t want to take part in the lawsuit, said she was motivated to do so when she thought about her two young nieces and how she might help spare them similar treatment. Seibold, 51, a local massage therapist and mother of two teenagers, was strip searched twice — once in January 2004 and again in December 2004. She was arrested for refusing to surrender her dog to authorities and for an unpaid traffic violation that turned out to have been paid. During one of the searches, the female corrections officer ran her hands up and down Seibold’s arms and legs, while the door to the room where she was being searched was left open a crack so that anyone could have looked in, she said. Seibold also was told to bend over during one of the searches, she said. “I felt so exposed,” Seibold said. “I felt so violated in that they really took their time.” Bienvenu said during his firm’s investigation of the situation, corrections officers told him there was a peep hole in the door to the room where the searches were conducted, and guards would sometimes line up for a look. Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano and Kerry Dixon, the MTC warden at the time, said the searches were conducted to stem the flow of drugs and weapons into the jail. On Thursday, Solano said he hadn’t heard of the peep-hole allegations. In a news release, Harry Montoya, chairman of the county commissioners, said, “The resolution of this matter helps to put behind us lingering missteps from the privately run jail and allows the county to continue to move forward. We have new procedures to insure that our current strip search policies are constitutional.” Those policies call for strip searches only when an inmate is accused of violence, drug or weapons-related crimes. A statement from MTC was not available Thursday. Donatelli said the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals made it clear in 1993 that blanket strip searches could not be conducted at county jails based on Fourth Amendment assurances against illegal searches. Said Bienvenu: “I believe it was a deliberate policy to ignore the law.” Rothstein said the case marks the first class-action settlement on strip searches in New Mexico, though his firm is handling three such pending cases in the state.

October 13, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Bill Blank's looming presence couldn't be ignored in the back of the crowd gathered outside the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center on Wednesday morning. With a large, imposing frame and a drooping mustache, Blank listened quietly to speeches from a who's who of county officials: County Manager Gerald González, Sheriff Greg Solano and Commission Chairman Mike Anaya were among those who spoke before a representative from Management and Training Corp., the private company that has been managing the jail since 2001, handed over ceremonial keys to the facility to county officials.

October 10, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Santa Fe County's quest to turn around the historically troubled Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility is about to start its greatest test. Management of the 668-bed jail officially changes hands on Tuesday from Management and Training Corporation, which has been running the jail since 2001, to Santa Fe County. The county inherits a facility that has faced rising costs, lawsuits, unflattering audits and incidents of rape and suicide. County commissioners and Sheriff Greg Solano, along with Corrections Department director Greg Parrish, have repeatedly expressed optimism that the county can do a better job than the private management companies that have run the jail previously. Of the 148 MTC employees, Santa Fe County hired 123 to continue working under county management. Some were food service and medical contractors tied to MTC. Six quit, and eight failed county background investigations. There are still 32 vacancies out of the county's 208-staff total to be filled.

September 28, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Santa Fe County Manager Gerald González was given "emergency" powers as the County Commission on Tuesday approved a number of housekeeping measures in advance county government's takeover of jail operations next month from Management and Training Corp. According to a resolution passed unanimously by the commission, González will be able to approve contracts for goods and services worth up to $100,000 (the previous limit was $20,000), approve any contract that has resulted from competitive bids or state price agreements, hire staff without commission approval, and execute any agreement not involving expenditure of county money. The measure was necessary for county staff to finish everything that needs doing at the county jail, according to Deputy County Manager Roman Abeyta, as Tuesday's meeting was the last time for the commission to approve contracts before the Oct. 11 handover of jail management from the private operator. Also at Tuesday's meeting, a $200,000 contract with Correct Rx Pharmacy Services to provide pharmaceuticals at the jail and a $68,587 contract with Inmate Transfer Services were also approved. In addition, Neves Uniforms and Kaufmans West were approved to provide correctional staff uniforms.

September 26, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Santa Fe County officials estimate they will lose $5.9 million running the adult jail next year. The year after, the projected loss is $6.4 million. But the rising deficits, which the county has already been absorbing for years, will be only part of the burden as county officials take over management of the 668-capacity facility Oct. 11 from Management and Training Corporation, the Utah-based private contractor that has been running the jail since 2001. County Manager Gerald Gonzales has an eye toward the added bureaucracy that will be required to run what will become Santa Fe County's largest department: corrections. Virtually none of the news coming out the county's adult detention facility over the past years has been good. Rising costs, lawsuits, unflattering audits, and incidents of rape and suicide have plagued the jail. When MTC decided it would withdraw from managing the jail earlier this year, the county had trouble finding another private contractor who wanted the job, county officials said. So the County Commission decided it was time to take on the responsibility— or the burden, as some call it— of running the jail itself. Sullivan blamed the problem on a handful of businessmen who convinced the county to build a jail bigger than what was needed. The current facility was completed in 1998 to expectations on the part of the County Commission that housing prisoners would bring in revenue. "Somebody said to the county, 'If you build it, they will come. If you build a massive facility, the prisoners will come, and we will all make money,' '' Solano said. Now, a completely new set of commissioners and staff are dealing with a reality that is quite the opposite from those expectations. "The days of big profits from jails are gone, especially in Santa Fe," Solano said. Under state statute, the county is obligated to provide for the incarceration of county prisoners. According to county officials, only 272 of the 578 inmates currently in the facility are the responsibility of Santa Fe County to incarcerate. Solano, at least, doesn't see a whole lot of change coming from the Oct. 11 handover. He said running the jail has been an integral part of his job as county sheriff since he started the job in 2002, despite its being under private management that whole time. "I get named in all the lawsuits at the jail," he said. "We already deal with it to such a large extent that I think it's better we just have complete control over it anyway, because we're the ones that have to answer for it. Private companies aren't responsible to the public. We are."

August 25, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe County jail inmate was found dead Wednesday afternoon hanging by a light fixture in the medical ward after an apparent suicide, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. Michael Martinez, 39, of Chimayó, was in a medical ward at the jail at the time due to sores on his arms believed to be from drug injections, as well as for drug and alcohol withdrawal, Solano said. Solano said corrections officers at the jail were checking on Martinez in the medical ward every 30 minutes Wednesday. Earlier this year, a civil lawsuit was filed against the jail by the family of an inmate who committed suicide there March 17, 2004. The lawsuit was filed by the family of Juan Ignacio-Sanchez, 22, who was in jail on a murder charge and hanged himself with his own shoelaces in his cell, according to the suit. The suit alleges that the jail's suicide-prevention policies were "seriously deficient" and that Ignacio-Sanchez was not placed on a suicide watch upon his admission to the jail, despite a phone call from his mother, who told officials that she thought her son was suicidal.

June 23, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
About a year before homicide suspect Juan Ignacio-Sanchez hung himself with his own shoelaces in a cell at the Santa Fe County jail, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report stating that the jail's suicide prevention policies were "seriously deficient."  That's just one of the allegations in a civil lawsuit against the jail filed Wednesday in Santa Fe District Court by attorney Robert Rothstein, on behalf of Ignacio-Sanchez's father.  Among the lawsuit's claims are that Ignacio-Sanchez was not placed on a suicide watch upon his admission to the jail despite a phone call to the jail from his mother, who said she thought he was suicidal.  When a corrections officer asked her why she thought her son was suicidal, she answered "that Ignacio-Sanchez had been crying uncontrollably the night that he was arrested, was very depressed, tired and confused; and he had told the police that he was going to kill himself if he did not get help," according to the lawsuit.  Also according to court documents:    On the day of Ignacio-Sanchez's suicide at the jail, a corrections officer took Ignacio-Sanchez's shoes, but he was allowed to keep his shoelaces. "There was absolutely no valid correctional justification for allowing Ignacio-Sanchez to retain the shoelaces— particularly without the shoes," court documents said.  The lawsuit alleges that jail staff members are responsible for maintaining a "constant awareness of the activities of inmates they (come) into contact with" as part of the MTC-developed "Suicide/Self-Injury Guidelines and Procedures" at the jail.  The procedures include maintaining a continuous watch on inmates who are under a suicide watch and removing dangerous articles or clothing that are found in those inmates' cells, according to the suit.

May 20, 2005 AP
The Santa Fe County Commission has decided to take over operation of its own jail this fall when a private company that now manages the facility pulls out. Management and Training Corp. announced last month that it would end its contract early because operating the jail was not profitable. The company said it couldn't keep a medical-service provider there and lost money trying to comply with new federal mandates. The Utah-based company is expected to end the arrangement on or before Oct. 11. Santa Fe County officials view the change as an opportunity to improve the facility. "We don't feel the contractor has done what needs to be done," Assistant County Attorney Grace Phillips told the commission Thursday before it approved a tentative plan to take over the jail. Gregory Parrish, director of the county corrections department, said the county could improve the jail's tarnished public image and provide better medical care than the private company. Government operation also could lead to cooperation with the state and other public bodies that could help improve medical services and keep the jail at capacity. Because the private contractor is focused on the bottom line, Parrish said, "sometimes their operations reflect that." The company repeatedly fails to handle detailed tasks such as booking and billing and simpler responsibilities such as answering phones, he said.

May 20, 2005 AP
Santa Fe County will begin running the county's jail this fall. The County Commission decided yesterday to take over the jail operations. Management and Training Corporation said last month that it will prematurely end its two year-contract to run the jail. The company says it will pull out on or before October Eleventh. The company has said it cannot afford to continue managing the lockup. The company is being paid $42 a day per prisoner. County officials say they can run the jail for about the same cost, and they believe they can do it better. Management and Training corporation has run the jail since 2001.

May 19, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
The family of a Santa Fe County jail inmate who died in February of an apparent heroin overdose claims the drug was supplied by a guard. The family of Christopher Roybal has filed a tort claim notice informing Santa Fe County and the privately run Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center that they intend to sue over his death. Attorney Mark Donatelli maintains in the notice that the inmate got his drugs from former jail guard Amos Romero, 43, of Mora, who is himself now an inmate at the jail. Romero has been charged with twice taking money from an undercover cop in April in exchange for delivering what he thought was cocaine into the jail. The substance was actually a mixture containing baking soda and coffee creamer. He faces two counts of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. Management and Training Corp., the Utah-based private operator of the jail, announced recently that it cannot operate the jail profitably and that it plans to bail out of its contract to run the lockup later this year. The tort claim notice asserts that, "Our preliminary investigation leads us to conclude that the death of Mr. Roybal was the direct and proximate result of the conduct of employees, officials and operators of the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center."

May 14, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A man who was incarcerated at the Santa Fe County jail earlier this week is raising questions about whether another inmate who died at the jail was refused medication before his apparent heart attack. Jaime Escobar, 28, who was charged recently on a domestic violence petition, according to court records, said Friday that he witnessed the death of William Garrett, 62, in the jail. Garrett died of apparent cardiac arrest Tuesday morning. Escobar, interviewed Friday, said he was repeatedly denied his diabetes medication while in the jail and that after Garrett suffered his cardiac arrest, other inmates in the jail told him that Garrett had also been denied medication. Escobar also claimed that it took jail personnel about 15 minutes to respond after inmates called for help for Garrett.

April 20, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
The second private company to try and run the Santa Fe County jail at a profit -- and at the same time in compliance with the law -- is giving up on the task. Management and Training Corp. announced late last week that it will quit managing the jail when its contract is up in the fall -- and would prefer to quit sooner, if the county will allow. County Sheriff Greg Solano says it's time the county took over operations of the jail. He's absolutely right -- the jail has been plagued by ongoing and serious security, sanitation and other problems under both recent private management companies. Two years ago, the federal government pulled prisoners out of the facility, claiming county officials were indifferent to prisoner medical and mental health needs. The pullout reduced the potential profit for the management company -- federal and other prisoners are housed for fees about 30 percent higher than what the county pays to house its local prisoners at the jail. Under MTC's management, the jail won accreditation from the American Correctional Association. But a murder -- the first ever at the facility -- followed a few months later. Critics of the fad for jail and prison privatization were busy saying, "We told you so" after MTC made its announcement last week. In hindsight, they seem to have been right on two important points: The jail is far too big for local needs, and the resulting profit squeeze has translated, consistently, into understaffing and managerial laxity on the part of the private contractors. A year ago, the county passed an eighth-of-a-cent gross receipts tax increase to finance increased spending on jail operations. In response to the numerous longstanding problems, the county also put in place a citizens advisory committee to monitor conditions there. Also a year ago, the county took over management of the juvenile jail facility and appears to have done a competent job there. With a funding stream and responsible oversight in place, the county is as well positioned as anybody to take over running the jail. It should do so without delay.

April 20, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Twice in the past month, a Santa Fe County jail guard took money from an undercover officer in exchange for bringing what he thought was cocaine to an inmate at the jail, court records state. Amos Romero, 43, of the Antimo Trailer Park in Mora, resigned from his job as a corrections officer at the jail immediately after his April 17 arrest, according to Santa Fe County jail deputy warden David Osuna. Management and Training Corp., the Utah-based private operator of the jail, recently announced that it cannot operate the jail profitably and told the county it is bailing out of its contract to run the lockup.    Illegal drugs finding their way into the jail is just one of a number of problems that have beset the privately run jail in recent years.

April 16, 2005 New Mexican
Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano's push for the county to take over operation of the jail from a private company received solid support Friday from members of the law-enforcement community, who all agreed that operating a jail should be a governmental function. However, some expressed concerns that a transition could be bumpy, and others cautioned that a county-run jail is unlikely to be a cure-all for all the problems. "I agreed with Sheriff Solano that we've got to stop thinking of the jail as a profit-maker," said state District Judge Michael Vigil. "I don't think government should be contracting out something as serious as our obligation to incarcerate people." "Three different private entities have run it now and it has not worked out," he said. "Probably because the bottom line for the companies is profit." Fellow District Judge Stephen Pfeffer -- who, like Vigil, handles criminal cases almost exclusively -- agreed. "Businesses are in business for profit," he said. "Government has to stay within a budget, but I think it's a different focus." Santa Fe County first contracted out the running of its jail in 1986, when the facility was located on Airport Road, to Corrections Corporation of America. After CCA decided not to pursue the contract for the newly built, much-larger jail in 1997, the contract was awarded to Cornell Corrections Inc. The current contractor -- Management Training Corporation -- has run the facility since 2001. MTC announced Thursday it was pulling out of its contract -- set to run until August 2006 -- because of problems providing adequate medical services. Those medical services were provided by yet another contractor -- Correct Care Solutions. Solano said he'd like to see a local medical-care provider, such as St. Vincent Regional Medical Center or Presbyterian Medical Services contract with the county to provide care at the jail.

April 15, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Management and Training Corp., saying it can't operate the Santa Fe County jail profitably, has given notice to county officials that it's bailing out of its contract to run the lockup. Utah-based MTC said it wasn't getting a sufficient number of inmates at the jail and the county wasn't paying the company enough to cover costs. "Low inmate occupancy numbers and the costs of additional operating requirements have made it impossible for MTC to continue to manage the facility," said Al Murphy, an MTC vice president. County Sheriff Greg Solano said now it's time for the county to take over jail operations rather than relying on a contractor. "We have to give up the idea of the jail as a profit center," Solano said. Solano also wants local health care providers to partner with the county to provide medical services for prisoners, which the sheriff said is one of the most difficult issues at the jail. MTC took over operation of the jail from Cornell Companies of Texas in 2001. The contract was renewed last fall, but MTC spokesman Carl Stuart said the company can opt out annually. MTC is willing to run the jail for another six months to fulfill the contract but also would leave earlier if the county wants, Stuart said. Stuart said MTC expected to have an average of 600 inmates at the jail— which can hold at least 650 prisoners— but that the prisoner population has been running at an average of 540 in recent months.  Santa Fe County's own prisoners average about 300 or 320 a day, Solano said. MTC has "had problems getting inmates from other areas to make a profit," he said.  Santa Fe attorney Mark Donatelli, who recently filed a lawsuit over the jail's former policy of strip-searching all inmates, said he and others warned county officials years ago that the jail was too large "and would become an economic albatross." "And that's what it turned out to be," Donatelli said. County Manager Gerald González said MTC's announcement was not a shock. This week, Correct Care Solutions, the current medical provider at the jail, notified MTC it planned to pull out because it cannot meet medical requirements under the present reimbursement allowance. "We knew they were having difficulty with medical, so from that standpoint it was not a complete surprise," González said. Donatelli said one problem with hiring private companies to run jails or prisons is that public agencies like the county lose corrections expertise and it can be difficult to resume public management. Solano said county management would help retain jail employees because of better benefits, including the retirement plan available through New Mexico's public employee system. He noted that the county took over operations at the juvenile jail about a year ago. MTC said one of its accomplishments was winning American Correctional Association accreditation for the jail last year. But an inmate was killed in an alleged beating by other inmates in June, apparently the first-ever slaying at the county jail.

April 14, 2005 AP
The company managing the Santa Fe County Jail announced Thursday it will end its two-year contract early. Executives for Management & Training Corporation said they cannot afford to continue managing the facility at the rate of $42 per day per inmate, considering the 650-bed jail houses only an average of 450 inmates. They said the contract is not profitable and they will end the agreement in six months. Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg L. Solano said Thursday the company's early departure was disappointing because it had just started just six months ago. However, the change could be an opportunity for the county to take over the jail, which has a $9.6 million budget. "We need to take control of this facility and put its destiny into our own hands," Solano said. The U.S. Justice Department, which monitors the jail's management, released a report in March 2003 alleging that county officials were indifferent to prisoners' medical and mental health needs. The county denied the allegations, but made changes to its program. Solano said he believes local medical providers would serve the jail better than out-of-state contractors. "We ought to get out of the business of running a jail for profit and just try to operate the best jail," Solano said.

April 6, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A woman formerly employed at the Santa Fe County jail showed up in court drunk Monday to testify whether a female inmate was being denied emergency medical treatment for a life-threatening illness.  Santa Fe public defender Damien Horne said that Rose Bell-Engle, 48, a former health services administrator for the county jail, first lied to Santa Fe District Judge Michael Vigil about whether she had drunk any alcohol.  But then Bell-Engle blew a 0.09 blood alcohol level on two Breathalyzer tests administered to her at the court, according to Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano. The legal limit for driving while intoxicated in New Mexico is a 0.08 blood alcohol level. Solano said Tuesday that Bell-Engle had resigned from her job at the jail before Monday's hearing. She was employed at the jail by Correct Care Solutions, the subcontractor for medical services hired by the jail's private manager, the Utah-based Management & Training Co.

February 26, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe County Sheriff's corporal said in court Friday that a 23-year-old man has admitted to using heroin at the Santa Fe County jail on the same date that his best friend, also an inmate at the jail, died of what authorities have said is a possible heroin overdose. Rocky Romero, 23, was in court Friday to face sentencing on charges of leading Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies on two vehicle chases last year. During Romero's sentencing, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Cpl. Vanessa Pacheco told Santa Fe District Judge Stephen Pfeffer that Romero has admitted to using heroin on Feb. 17 and at other times during the week of Feb. 14 to Feb. 18. Romero's best friend, Chris Roybal, 37, who was staying in the same dormitory pod as Romero the week ending Feb. 18, was found dead in his cell on Feb. 18. Roybal's death is being investigated as a possible heroin overdose, according to Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano. According to a news release from the sheriff's department, inmates at the jail have told investigators that Roybal was using heroin on Feb. 17 before he was found dead on Feb. 18.  During the investigation, a syringe was found behind a hollowed-out brick wall in the dormitory where Roybal was being held, according to the sheriff's department.  Solano has called Roybal's death a "suspected overdose" and added that Roybal showed no outward signs of trauma that could have contributed to his death.

February 24, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Two men who potentially face the death penalty if found guilty of killing a fellow inmate at the Santa Fe County jail last year were unusually loquacious during a court hearing Wednesday. Prosecutors called for the hearing before First Judicial District Judge Tim Garcia because they believe that court documents made available to the two defendants have been disseminated to a wider audience and could be used to "threaten the lives of witnesses and/or defendants," according to the motion. But defendant Jesus Aviles-Dominguez, who is charged in connection with the June 4 beating death of fellow Santa Fe County jail inmate Dickie Ortega, denied any such activity. He told a reporter, "We don't have no fax machines in our pods." Good said that at the time of Ortega's death, he was three days away from being released from jail. Good is now being housed at the state penitentiary. Good said that his treatment at the prison is better than it was at the Santa Fe County jail. When pressed for details about the case, Good became tight lipped. "No comment, not guilty, see you at trial," Good said.

February 19, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe County jail inmate was found dead in his cell early Friday, and fellow inmates are claiming the deceased man took heroin on Thursday, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. Chris Roybal, 37, was found dead just before 3 a.m. on Friday after a fellow inmate notified a guard that Roybal "normally snores loudly and was too quiet and something may be wrong with him," according to the sheriff's department. On Friday, Roybal's former attorney, Sydney West, said Roybal had "a long and documented heroin problem."

January 13, 2005 Albuquerque Journal
Among the former Santa Fe County jail inmates who were forced to strip naked under the jail's former blanket strip-search policy, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, was 49-year-old Kristi Siebold. The crime that brought Siebold to the jail? Refusal to give her dog to animal control, the civil rights lawsuit states. Another defendant in attorney Mark Donatelli's class action suit against the jail and its private management firm is David Sandoval, a 39-year-old machinist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who underwent two strip searches after being arrested on a charge of stealing a casino gambling chip, a charge he was later cleared of. Another plaintiff is a 45-year-old writer and film producer who had never been arrested before. She was taken into custody in November when a bench warrant was erroneously issued for her arrest on a charge of failing to appear for a court date, the suit says. The woman was "taken to the jail where she was ordered to strip completely naked, put her arms over her head and turn around for visual inspection," according to Donatelli. "She was then required to lift each of her breasts for additional visual inspection, to bend over and cough. This woman also, while completely naked, was subjected to an officer placing her hands on the woman's legs and genital area for a further physical examination." Donatelli alleges that none of the plaintiffs named in his suit were admitted to the jail for violent offenses, and none were found to be in possession of any contraband after they were forced to strip nude. Donatelli estimates that hundreds of people, presumed innocent after their arrests, have likely had to endure the "horribly demeaning" experience of having to strip naked.

January 6, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A 31-year-old man who was arrested on prostitution charges on Cerrillos Road New Year's Eve has alleged that he was raped by an unknown assailant while in custody at the Santa Fe County jail early Sunday morning.

December 30, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A civil rights attorney says he will file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all individuals who were forced to strip naked under the Santa Fe County Jail's former policy of strip-searching anyone booked into the jail. Santa Fe attorney Mark Donatelli's Wednesday announcement that he plans the class-action litigation comes after the jail recently abandoned its policy of strip-searching each and every inmate during booking. Donatelli contends that it was unconstitutional for the jail to have a blanket policy of strip-searching all inmates, arguing that individuals under arrest have a right to privacy and are presumed innocent of their charges in the eyes of the law. The jail's former practice of strip-searching every inmate during booking first came to light in September, after the Journal reported that a cocktail waitress at a Santa Fe bar was strip-searched following her arrest on a charge of selling alcohol to a minor. During an interview after her arrest, Leyba said she was forced to strip naked, "no socks, nothing," after her Sept. 4 arrest. The search was performed by female corrections officers, Leyba said. In November, Jamie Taylor, 22, of Santa Fe also came forward and reported that male corrections officers ordered her to strip naked for a search after her June arrest on a DWI charge. But Taylor said that after she protested, the male corrections officers backed off and did not go through with the search. Donatelli said there is potentially a large number of inmates and former inmates whose rights were violated at the county jail when they were ordered to strip naked.

December 14, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A woman who says she was raped by two inmates at the Santa Fe County jail while she was incarcerated there earlier this year has notified the county and the jail's private manager that she intends to sue for damages. Veronica Sanchez has alleged that she was sexually assaulted at the Santa Fe County jail in September. According to her tort claim notice, she "was raped by at least two men after being trapped inside a cell containing approximately eight to eleven male detainees." Sanchez's tort claim says after she was raped, "she was then removed and placed, alone, in a different cell, where she was left for about two hours before being transported to the hospital for an examination, during which time the various personnel who were responsible for her safety scrambled to concoct an explanation for her rape which would leave them somehow blameless," reads the tort claim notice. "Only after she became hysterical, curled up on the floor, and started kicking at the door and screaming was she finally let out of the cell and taken to the hospital by ambulance." After Sanchez was raped, the detention officer who put her in the wrong cell, "immediately denied putting her in that cell."  A medical officer at the jail also is quoted in Donatelli's tort claim as saying that a detention officer approached him at the jail the night of the rape, and told him that he "lost" Sanchez in the jail, and that "he knew he should not have had male and female detainees out of booking cells at the same time, but that his supervisor told him just to handle it on his own."

November 23, 2004 AP
The American Correctional Association says the Santa Fe County jail violated its standards by strip searching a waitress booked on a charge of serving alcohol to minors. Waitress Lisa Leyba, who notified the county earlier this month that she intends to sue, contends she was ordered to remove all her clothes and turn around in front of a female guard. Some people who have been strip searched at New Mexico jails have won settlements. For example, Diana Archuleta, a supervisor at Las Vegas Medical Center, settled a case against San Miguel County early this year for more than $80,000 after winning a summary judgment, said her attorney, Shannon Oliver of Albuquerque. State District Judge Jay Harris ruled the Las Vegas jail's policy of strip searching everyone booked into the jail is unconstitutional. Phil Davis, legal co-director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, has represented plaintiffs in several strip-search cases and has settled them all. "The law is clear that you need some kind of suspicion to strip search any inmate, particularly one brought in for a relatively minor offense," Davis said.

November 20, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A 36-year-old Santa Fe woman was mistakenly released from jail Thursday by giving a detention officer a bond receipt from a prior arrest, according to a report from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. The woman, Connie Gonzales, was still at large Friday afternoon, and she will be additionally charged with escape from jail.

November 18, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County jail's practice of strip searching all inmates is unconstitutional, according to a tort claim notice sent to the jail by an attorney for a local cocktail waitress who says she was ordered to strip nude after her September arrest for serving alcohol to a minor. Catamount Bar & Grille cocktail waitress Lisa Leyba, 32, spent 14 hours at the jail Sept. 4, charged with a fourth-degree felony after she sold beers to two underage customers during an undercover sting operation by police.    In a phone interview Wednesday, Leyba's attorney, Mark Donatelli said, "It's hard to believe that in the middle of purported jail improvements, the county starts forcing people to take their clothes off in violation of the Constitution." "Specifically, she was taken to a room and ordered to disrobe," reads Donatelli's tort claim. "Ms. Leyba removed her clothes and stood in the middle of the room in her undergarments and socks. She was then told that this was insufficient and was ordered to take off all her undergarments and socks and to rotate so that the officer could observe her entire body." Santa Fe County jail warden Kerry Dixon, who works for the jail's private manager, the Utah-based Management & Training Co., could not be reached for comment Wednesday. During a brief phone conversation Wednesday, Dixon said he wanted to first speak with an attorney before commenting, but he did not call back and subsequently could not be reached for comment. "We have since learned that what happened to Ms. Leyba was caused by a recently implemented policy of conducting strip searches of all incoming pre-trial detainees," reads Donatelli's tort claim notice. "As I am sure you know, this categorical and indiscriminate practice expressly violates the 4th and 14th amendments to the United States Constitution as well as the New Mexico Constitution." Another young woman who was interviewed Wednesday, Jamie Taylor, 22, said that a male corrections officer ordered her to strip after her June arrest on a driving while intoxicated charge. Taylor said the corrections officer claimed the female guards were busy, "so he had to do it." Taylor said that when she stood up for herself, the corrections officer backed off.  "The male guy tried to make me strip in front of him," Taylor said. "I told him I know my rights, and that if he tried to make me strip I would immediately look into filing a lawsuit."  Leyba's tort claim notice claims that the jail's policy of conducting strip searches of all pre-trial detainees "was caused in part by the joint decision of county officials and MTC to bring in an administration headed by a warden whose only corrections experience was in operating prisons housing convicted felons and not a jail housing pre-trial detainees who are presumed innocent of any crimes."

October 29, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A Santa Fe man accuses a Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy of mistaking a preexisting brain injury for intoxication and arresting him for drunken driving after a 2002 traffic crash, according to a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday. The suit states that Lawrence Martinez was involved in an Oct. 28, 2002, crash with another vehicle while he was headed west on Las Estrellas Road. It also states that county jail guards beat and kicked Martinez. The jail's private manager, the Utah-based Management & Training Corp., also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

October 28, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The U.S. Department of Justice won't sue Santa Fe County, as long as it adheres to a 30-page memorandum of understanding that has taken more than a year to negotiate over management of the county jail. The agreement outlines policies and protocols covering a range of issues from health care and suicide prevention to security and staff training. Santa Fe County commissioners approved the document Tuesday, but the federal government has yet to sign off on it. The jail has been under Justice Department scrutiny for some time. In March 2003, the federal agency released a scathing report charging that the county was deliberately indifferent to the inmates' medical and mental health needs and suffered harm or risk from the detention center's suicide prevention, fire safety and sanitation systems. Federal inmates were subsequently pulled from the facility. The jail has had other problems recently as well. Earlier this month, a woman alleged she was raped by another inmate in an area of booking where no security cameras were in place. And a 32-year-old prisoner was beaten to death by other inmates in June. The death occurred in a section of the jail the Justice Department identified as being understaffed two years ago. However, when the county renegotiated its contract with jail operator Management and Training Corp. on Oct. 1, the new contract reflected many of the Department of Justice's recommendations. As a result, the cost of operating the jail will increase this year by nearly $1.5 million, county finance director Susan Lucero said.

October 6, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
An attorney for a woman who claims she was raped by a fellow inmate at the Santa Fe County jail last week says the sheriff's department has a conflict of interest in investigating the case. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department should not be investigating the rape report because the sheriff will be named in a resulting civil lawsuit, her attorney Mark Donatelli said Tuesday. The sheriff will be named in the suit because as the county's agent, he is ultimately responsible for what goes on at the privately run county jail, Donatelli said. Donatelli said he intends to file suit against Solano, the county and the jail's private manager, the Utah-based Management and Training Corp.

October 1, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
Officials at the Santa Fe County jail should never have allowed a female inmate to have contact with a male inmate during an incident Tuesday night when she alleges she was raped in a booking area, her attorney said. Female and male inmates are, at least theoretically, "not allowed to mix" at the jail, said attorney Mark Donatelli. "How hard is it to have physical separation at the jail?" Donatelli asked. There are two main problems at the jail, Donatelli said— a lack of staffing and a lack of money to commit to hire and retain quality personnel. During an incident in 2001, guards allowed a female inmate into her inmate boyfriend's cell so they could have sex. This happened under the jail's former private manager, Cornell Corrections.  And in March, former inmate Juanita Martinez alleged in a lawsuit that she became pregnant in 2001 after she was raped at the jail by a guard and other inmates. Both Cornell Corrections and MTC are named as plaintiffs in that lawsuit.

September 30, 2004 Santa Fe New Mexican
A 44-year-old woman claims she was raped in the booking area of the Santa Fe County jail Tuesday night after guards left her alone with male inmates, Sheriff Greg Solano said. Both Solano and jail Warden Kerry Dixon refused to say exactly what happened. The booking area has two sections -- one where prisoners are initially brought and a second where holding cells are located, Solano said.  The alleged attack took place in the second section, where a corrections officer should always be on duty, Dixon said. "However, last night we did not (have anyone on duty)," he said. "It initially appears to me that we had some procedural errors." "I'm extremely concerned and embarrassed," said Dixon, who was hired as warden seven months ago. "Everything I've worked to do here is going to go right down the drain because of incidents like this."

September 30, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
A female inmate at the Santa Fe County jail has alleged that a male inmate raped her in the facility's booking area Tuesday night, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. The alleged rape occurred in the jail's booking area between 9:44 and 11 p.m. Tuesday.

August 31, 2004 Santa Fe New Mexican
A lawyer has sent a letter warning Santa Fe County and the private company that runs its jail to expect a lawsuit from the family of a man beaten to death in the facility earlier this summer.  Dickie Ortega’s death in the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center resulted from a lack of adequate staffing, lack of inmate supervision, lack of video monitoring of some jail areas, inadequate policies regarding inmate classification and problems with hiring , training and supervision of corrections officers, Santa Fe attorney Bob Rothstein wrote in a Friday letter.  

August 26, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty against two county jail inmates who are accused of beating a fellow inmate to death.  The inmate was slain on June 6 because they thought he was an informant, according to court records.  Attorney Mark Donatelli has said he plans on filing a civil lawsuit against the jail's private manager, the Utah-based Management and Training Corp., and Santa Fe County, for negligence in connection with Dickie Ortega's death.  On Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, who oversees the jail, said that staffing is being increased at the jail. 

 August 11, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
Escalating costs at the Santa Fe County jail are likely to consume new revenue from a gross receipts tax hike approved by county commissioners last month in just 21/2 to four years, commissioners determined Tuesday.  "Well, that's really depressing," said County Commissioner Jack Sullivan, who crunched some numbers during the commission meeting.  If the county inmate population continues growing, and the number of inmates coming from the state Corrections Department shrinks, the county will see recurring increases of more than $1 million each year to pay its private operator, Management and Training Corp. 

July 28, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a tax hike to help fund operations at the county jail.  The one-eighth percent increase in the gross receipts tax will mean an additional 12.5 cents on a $100 purchase in Santa Fe County. The new tax rate will go into effect Jan. 1, 2005, unless voters petition the county to hold a referendum on the increase.  County officials estimate the tax hike will generate an additional $4 million a year, which would be earmarked for the county's correctional facilities.  The county contracts with a private company, Utah-based Management and Training Corp., to run the adult jail.  The adult jail has been the subject of state and federal audits harshly criticizing medical care and security at the facility.  Also under the new proposal, the county will increase the amount of money it pays per prisoner. The new per diem rate, currently $41 per prisoner per day, will increase to $42.  There are nearly 600 inmates currently at the jail. About 400 of those are county inmates, and the remainder are prisoners housed under contract with other agencies.

June 28, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
As "tough negotiations" with Santa Fe County's private jail contractor grind on, some county officials are revisiting the notion that the county itself should resume jail operations.  County Commissioner Paul Duran thinks the county would do a better job running the jail now.  "I have always thought that the county should take it over," Duran said.  Duran expressed similar thoughts last year when the county's Corrections Advisory Committee issued its annual report. It concluded that Utah-based MTC-- a for-profit company-- was not providing enough medical staffing or case managers to deal with inmates needs.  This year's report, while noting some progress, raised the same concerns.  "I think it's the profit element that is the root of all these problems," Duran said in a recent interview.  The jail's troubles have been well-documented in recent years, with state and federal audits slamming the facility for inadequate medical services and security procedures.  MTC currently subcontracts another company, Physicians Network Association, to provide health care services at the jail. PNA will not return if and when the county and MTC reach a new agreement, jail administrators have said.  

June 26, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County jail is making changes following an incident earlier this month that left one inmate dead.
The jail, run by Management and Training Corp., has changed rules for prisoners.  Among them, inmates are not allowed in their neighbor's cell at any time and rules governing when inmates can enter and exit cells in three of the jail's four housing units have changed, Deputy Warden David Osuna said.  On June 6, four inmates in the jail's highest-security housing pod allegedly dragged two other inmates from a recreational area into a cell and severely beat them. Dickie M. Ortega, 32, of Chimayo died at a Santa Fe hospital after suffering head and facial injuries and a crushed larynx. His cousin, 29-year-old Brad Ortega, was injured.  Four inmates were charged with murder and aggravated battery. They are Daniel Good, 31, Jesus Aviles-Dominguez, 28, Joe Corriz, 36, all of Santa Fe, and Lawrence Gallegos, 25. There was no hometown listed for Gallegos. Aviles-Dominguez also was charged with tampering with evidence.  Along with rule changes at the jail, Management and Training Corp. said it has added two supervising corrections officers to each day shift.  

June 12, 2004 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County jail pod where an inmate was killed on June 4 was staffed with a requisite number of guards-- the same number that was sufficient to win accreditation from the American Correctional Association after a February inspection, according to the county sheriff.  Attorney Mark Donatelli, whose law firm is representing Ortega's family in a pending civil lawsuit, said Friday that inadequate staffing and supervision of inmates could have contributed to Ortega's fatal beating.  Donatelli also said that ACA accreditation is "like have having a sticker on a used car that says it runs good; that's about it."  A 2002 Department of Justice report identified nine incidents of violence at the jail that can be attributed to a lack of supervision, Donatelli said.  

November 19, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
Guards at the Santa Fe County jail say they found an inmate with black-tar heroin inside the jail Monday afternoon. Albert Ponce, 28, who is from southern New Mexico, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, according to undersheriff Robert Garcia. Police reports indicate a guard at the jail saw Ponce and another inmate walk out of a janitor's closet at the jail Monday afternoon. Another guard reportedly patted both inmates down and found a small sheet of folded paper with the heroin inside it taped to Ponce's body under his jail-issue clothing. It was too early to know how the heroin found its way into the jail, Garcia said, but drugs inside the facility are not uncommon. 

November 15, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
Nine months after the U.S. Department of Justice found health-care deficiencies at Santa Fe County's jail, problems remain. The department still won't allow the jail to house federal prisoners, whose removal earlier this year cut off a source of revenue for the 682-bed adult-detention center south of the city. Officials say solving the jail's medical-care problems will likely call for a greater investment from the county government, which already has felt a drag on its budget, and more cooperation from community health-care providers. The company that provides health services is not performing routine exams for prisoners locked up in the county-owned, privately-operated jail, and in many cases, inmates are being cared for by emergency medical technicians, who have less training than nurses, officials say. 

September 2, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe County’s private prison operator has 30 days to come up with a corrective-action plan to address issues raised in a recent audit by the state Department of Corrections, the department announced Friday. Corrections Secretary Joe Williams said workers who inspected the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center two weeks ago found that Management and Training Corp. has made strides in improving security at the jail since the state threatened to remove its inmates from the facility earlier this summer. But Williams wants the Utah-based operator to work harder at complying with contractual obligations regarding programs and services, he said in a written statement Friday. 

August 14, 2003 Albuquerque Journal
The family of Tyson Johnson, in a federal lawsuit filed Monday, claim that instead of tending to his psychiatric care during a 17-day stay in the Santa Fe County jail, staff there neglected and even taunted him to end his life. The 26-page document, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Fe on behalf of Johnson's mother and his two young children, details the 27-year-old man's last days, during which he repeatedly pleaded for help. The lawsuit claims those cries fell on deaf ears. Johnson ended up hanging himself the morning of Jan. 13 with a "suicide proof" blanket inside a padded cell, despite being placed on a suicide watch. 

July 27, 2003 Albuquerque Journal
Jail guards or civilians who help bring illegal narcotics into the Santa Fe County jail might wind up spending time there as inmates. And inmates who bring drugs in will be caught and face a longer list of criminal charges. That's the message Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano hopes to send after he announced that 12 defendants either face or will face criminal charges as a result of an ongoing six-month investigation into drug smuggling into the Santa Fe County jail by a task force headed by Lt. Marco Lucero. Six defendants have already been arrested and charged in connection with the operations, including one former jail guard. 

July 22, 2003  Santa Fe New Mexican
Friends and families of inmates at the Santa Fe County Detention Center were kept from visiting the prisoners Sunday because the jail was short of guards. Warden Steve Hargett said visitors weren't allowed at the jail because two correctional officers unexpectedly had to take an inmate to the hospital. One guard had already called in sick when the medical emergency occurred, which left too few guards to supervise visits, he said. 

July 11, 2003 Albuquerque Journal
More bad news arrived Wednesday at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center, where a surprise state inspection discovered "serious security issues," according to the state Corrections Department. County Sheriff Greg Solano and Corrections Department spokeswoman Tia Bland declined Thursday to specify the problems found in the unannounced audit. Corrections Secretary Joe R. Williams and Solano plan to address the media today, Bland said. 

June 18, 2003 Santa Fe New Mexican
A 39-year-old jail guard has been placed on paid administrative leave after an inmate alleged Saturday he sexually assaulted her. The guard hasn't been charged with a crime, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said. The investigation will probably take a long time, Solano said. The inmate told police the guard touched her intimately Friday. She also said the guard sexually assaulted her outside the jail, Solano said Monday.

August 26, 2002 Albuquerque Journal
More than 140 inmates at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center were placed on lockdown following an alleged assault of a correctional by two inmates Sunday afternoon. Correctional Officer Felipe Romero was taken to St.Vincent Hospital after he was kicked and punched by two federal inmates about 1:15 p.m. Parrish said the lockdown, which confined inmates to their cells, would stay in place until jail officials met with representatives of Management Training Corporation, which has been hired by the county to operate the center. 

December 11, 2001 Albuquerque Journal
The Santa Fe County jail has fired two former corrections officers in the mistaken release in late October of a prisoner accused of rape. Greg Parrish, county correctional services manager, said in early November that jail officials had obtained a release order for a Javier Gonzales accused of shoplifting, but the wrong inmate was let go. "Two employees of (Management Training Corp.) were dismissed," Parrish said. "It doesn't appear that there's any criminal intent involved." Parrish was hired by the county to act as a liaison with the privately run jail after Utah-based Management and Training Corp. assumed its management in October. 

November 8, 2001Santa Fe New Mexican
As police continue to look for escaped Santa Fe County Detention Center inmate Javier Gonzalez, officials at the jail say they have taken the first steps toward making sure a similar incident never happens again. Management and Training Corp. officials have reassigned staff members and have assigned a new lieutenant to the booking department to make sure employees follow procedures correctly. 

Taft Correctional Institution, Taft, California
June 13, 2009 Anchorage Daily-News
Former Rep. Vic Kohring says he still supports private prisons even as his enthusiasm clashes with his own observations from inside one, where he said equipment went unrepaired, meals lacked fresh produce and prisoner welfare appeared to take a back seat to saving money. "That's the downside of the private-run facility," said Kohring, two days after he left the privately run Taft Correctional Institution in Taft, Calif. "There was a certain amount of indifference there." Kohring spent about 10 months at the low-security camp at Taft following his conviction on federal corruption charges in 2007. He and former House Speaker Pete Kott were freed last week while they argue that their bribery convictions should be overturned because prosecutors failed to give them favorable evidence uncovered by the FBI. Their first court hearing will be Wednesday, though it will mainly deal with their conditions for release, not the substance of their arguments. Kott was held in a prison camp owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons at Sheridan, Ore. Kott hasn't responded to interview requests. Kohring was in the process of transferring from Taft to Sheridan when release orders were issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge John Sedwick of Anchorage. On Friday, after reporting to probation officers in Anchorage, Kohring spoke extensively with a reporter about his year inside the federal corrections system. Taft is a federally owned facility in the California desert. It opened in 1997 as a demonstration project to test how private companies could operate a federal prison. Wackenhut Corrections and Geo Group Inc. held contracts there. In 2007, Management & Training Corp., a privately held company based in Centerville, Utah, took over operations under a four-year, $144 million contract. "It seemed pretty apparent they were cutting -- they were trying to be ultra-efficient, cutting back as much as they could," Kohring said. "If things would break down, they'd stay broken down for a long time -- exercise equipment, telephones." Meals were loaded with carbohydrates, "too many processed foods, not enough fresh produce," he said. "There was a lot of complaints that the food there wasn't up to par, at least not in comparison to, say, Sheridan." Kohring also said that medical care was inadequate. "I witnessed some pretty bad injuries when I was in Taft there. Guys falling over, one guy broke his femur, another broke his hip, one guy was punched in the face and he had glass embedded in his eye and it took him about a day before they finally took him to the doctor, at Bakersfield, in the hospital. It was horrid." His own pre-existing back and neck injury, from a car accident, got him neither sympathy nor care, he said. "My back didn't get any kind of attention at all, other than ibuprofen. I was told by the director of medical to shut up ... They said no to everything." He was warned that if he kept complaining, he'd wind up cleaning the kitchen, he said. Carl Stuart, communication director for Management & Training Corp., said Saturday that his company does what's required under its federal contracts. Bureau of Prisons officials regularly inspect its operations, and some contract prisons have full-time, on-site government monitors, though he didn't know if that was the case in Taft.

Willacy County Adult Correctional Facility, Raymondville, Texas
June 28, 2009 Brownsville Herald
It took about five years, but state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. seems to have phased out his paid consulting jobs for construction and engineering firms. Last year, however, he still received at least $25,000 in consulting fees from the Houston-based TEDSI Infrastructure Group, according to his personal financial statement on file with the Texas Ethics Commission. "I was fulfilling a prior obligation on a contract that I had with TEDSI which expired in 2008," Lucio wrote in a statement to The Brownsville Herald Wednesday. Lucio, D-Brownsville, did not say what he did for the firm, but in 2002 said that he would set up meetings and introduce the firm to officials in Brownsville. In 2004 amid mounting criticism of possible conflicts of interest, Lucio told the Herald that he would phase out consulting for firms that do business in the Rio Grande Valley and the state. Besides consulting for TEDSI, Lucio also was retained by CorPlan Corrections of Dallas, Management & Training Corp. of Utah, Aguirre Inc. of Dallas, and Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. of Houston. At the start of 2005, Lucio severed ties with CorPlan, Aguirre, and MTC amid federal inquiries into the federal detention center in Willacy County. A Webb County commissioner and two former Willacy County commissioners were convicted of bribery. Companies involved in the project were not accused of any wrongdoing. Lucio also stopped consulting for Dannenbaum, which he said he introduced to the Brownsville Navigation District. The BND paid Dannenbaum $15.4 million of $21.4 million spent toward developing a still non-existent international bridge at the Port of Brownsville. But, he continued consulting for TEDSI until last year. Lucio's prior financial statements show that in 2007 TEDSI paid him from $10,000 to $24,999 and $25,000 or more in prior years. Lucio had been on CorPlan's payroll since 1999. Aguirre, MTC and Dannenbaum then contracted him, but in interviews prior to 2004 he wouldn't specifically say when or how much each paid him. It was not until 2004 that Lucio started specifically listing the companies that retained him in his financial statements and these, coupled with prior interviews with the senator, reflect that the five firms paid him at least $340,000. Embattled former Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra obtained an indictment against Lucio last year, charging him with profiting from the elected office. Administrative Judge Manuel Bañales Jr. dismissed the indictment following arguments from Lucio's attorney, Michael R. Cowen, that the indictment was defective and that Guerra was seeking revenge against those who he perceived to be his political enemies.

December 13, 2008 Brownsville Herald
This year's Willacy County grand jury investigation into alleged criminal activity surrounding for-profit prisons and high-profile public officials is not the first, and District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said it is tied to an earlier investigation. A federal inquiry resulting in convictions in 2005 stirred up a dust storm in Raymondville when it looked into a money-for-votes and bribery scheme to favor firms involved in the Willacy County Adult Correctional Center, a project that started in 2000. The firms, which did business in Texas and were involved in the project, were CorPlan Corrections, Aguirre Inc., Management & Training Corp., and Hale-Mills Construction, according to Guerra and public records. That federal investigation resulted in the bribery conviction of former Webb County commissioner David Cortez - identified in federal court records as the representative of "a company" - who gave $39,000 over three years from 2000 to 2003 to several officials to secure their votes on the Commissioners Court for the firm's participation in the jail project. However, that firm is never mentioned by name in the court record. Federal officials would not discuss the case, so the reason for the omission could not be learned. Among the officials who received money in return for favoring a jail consultant - also unnamed in the court record - and whom Cortez represented were Israel Tamez of Raymondville, at that time a Willacy County commissioner, and the late Jose Jimenez of Sebastian, also a Willacy commissioner. Cortez, Tamez and Jimenez all pleaded guilty, the federal court record shows. U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen sentenced Tamez to six months in jail, three years probation and a $25,000 fine. Cortez was sentenced to three months in jail, followed by a period of six months of home confinement, two-years probation and a $25,000 fine. Jimenez died in 2006, while Cortez and Tamez were sentenced in late 2006 and directed to serve their sentences last year. The unnamed companies were never charged. The dust storm never quite settled after those convictions. Court records show that a series of continuances delayed when the sentences would begin. Tamez did not serve his sentence until last year. Jimenez was convicted but died before sentencing. In reference to the Jimenez and Tamez cases, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim McAlister told the court in the fall of 2005: "Both defendants are actively cooperating in helping the government identify and prosecute other individuals involved in unlawful activity. The investigation is ongoing and both defendants are expected to continue their efforts in assisting the government. The government and the defendants agree that sentencing Mr. Tamez and Mr. Jimenez at this time could result in a miscarriage of justice." McAlister's motions to continue Cortez's case are sealed. However, federal court records show that Cortez gave money to yet a third elected official, so that he would favor corporate interests involved in the design, construction, financing, maintenance and management of the Willacy correctional center that was to house federal inmates. During Cortez's sentencing in 2006, his lawyer, Mike DeGeurin Sr., of Houston, told Hanen: "I think, to convince people that he (Cortez) is still a person you can count on to get things done, he (Cortez) makes some payments to Mr. (Israel) Tamez and a couple of others - two other commissioners that, we'll leave their names unspoken." However, Jimenez was the only other person charged, aside from Cortez. There were believed to be additional conspirators, known and unknown, the federal record shows. Neither the third commissioner to which DeGuerin referred, nor the other conspirators that McAlister referred to in 2005, was never mentioned by name or location in court documents and was not part of the court record. DeGeurin did not respond to a recent request for comment. Tamez's attorney, John David Franz, of McAllen, also could not be reached for comment. Jimenez's lawyer, Nemecio E. Lopez Jr. of Harlingen, declined to talk about the case. Enter Guerra and his investigation into the management and operation of for-profit prisons in Willacy County, which led to the recent indictments of, among others, U.S. Vice President Richard B. Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville. The indictment charges Cheney and Gonzales with profiteering from the jails and neglect of conditions due to self-interest. The indictment against Lucio charged him with influence peddling in receiving consulting fees from the firms for services he would not have been requested to provide were it not for his official position. Guerra now says the FBI and Texas Rangers told him in 2006 that "higher-ups" in both agencies directed their agents to halt the federal inquiry into the original money-for-votes and bribery scheme. Spokeswomen for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas declined to comment on Guerra's allegations, and Tela Mange of the Texas Department of Public Safety said no one in the department knew anything about Guerra's allegations, including the Texas Rangers. The FBI did not return a request for comment. Guerra says that he reopened the investigation because he wants to ensure justice is done before he leaves office at the end of this month. "If I know that a crime has been committed, I have to make a diligent effort to make sure that the crime is addressed in my tenure. My job is to make sure that criminals don't get away. That is what a prosecutor does," he said. James M. Parkey, president and founder of CorPlan, on Monday verified for the Brownsville Herald that Cortez had been one of the firm's consultants, but said he had not known of any payments from Cortez to Tamez, Jimenez or others. "Our position is that Mr. Cortez pleaded guilty," said CorPlan's lawyer, Edmundo O. Ramirez, of McAllen. There is no other position, he said. Public records - yearly financial statements that the Texas Ethics Commission requires of elected officials - show that Lucio was one of CorPlan's consultants. The Nov. 17 indictment against Lucio alleges that because of his position he received consulting fees from six firms, including CorPlan Corrections, Aguirre Inc., Management & Training Corp. , and Hale-Mills Construction. Guerra said the firms were tied to the Willacy County 500-bed jail project, which county commissioners approved in 2000. Parkey said he was not at liberty to disclose the services Lucio provided his firm without Lucio's consent. Lucio told The Brownsville Herald in 2002 that he received consulting fees from the firms for introducing them to public officials and setting up meetings. In 2002, Parkey said, "Public relations doesn't require a product in terms of written material. He (Lucio) keeps our name in front of people." Texas Ethics Commission records show that Lucio listed receiving at least $135,000 or more from CorPlan Corrections, Aguirre Inc. and Management & Training Corp. in 2003 and 2004. Hale-Mills is not on the list. Lucio also told The Brownsville Herald in 2002 and again in 2005 that he had been consulting for CorPlan since 1999 and that Aguirre and Management & Training Corp. soon contracted with him for consulting, marketing and public relations. He would not say at that time when or how much money each company paid him. It was not until 2004 that Lucio reported the companies in his personal financial statements to the Texas Ethics Commission, which requires that officials list retainers and sources of income. Lucio's chief of staff, Paul Cowen (uncle of Lucio's lawyer, Michael R. Cowen) said in 2002 that the fees had been reported, but under the umbrella of Rio Shelters Inc., a firm owned by Lucio that provides advertisements on bus shelters. Hale-Mills and Aguirre Inc. did not return a request for comment Tuesday, and Carl Stuart, communications director for Management & Training Corp., said, "We just don't make comment on pending litigation." During the inquiries in 2005, Lucio wrote to CorPlan Corrections, Aguirre Inc. and Management & Training Corp. advising them he was taking a leave of absence because news reports had named the three companies as those involved in the building and management of the facilities in Willacy County. Lucio at that time brought copies of his letters to the Brownsville Herald. Cowen, Lucio's lawyer, on Monday said he has instructed his client not to comment "as long as Mr. Guerra is in office." Contrary to his client's Nov. 17 indictment, which presiding District Judge J. Manuel Bañales dismissed Dec. 1, Lucio did not do consulting work for Hale-Mills, Cowen stressed. (Bañales also threw out the indictments against Cheney and Gonzales on Dec. 1.) "In fact, we ask the public to take all of Mr. Guerra's accusations with a grain of salt, and to consider the misrepresentations he has already been caught making under oath in this case," Cowen said in a written statement to The Brownsville Herald. Cowen said he and the senator are disappointed that Guerra continues his vendetta against Lucio, even after the court dismissed all charges against the senator. Lucio has to do outside work to earn a living, Cowen said, noting that the senator is paid only $600 a month by the for his legislative services. Cowen said Lucio earns less than the minimum wage, and cannot support his family on $7,200 a year. "However, he has been very careful to ensure that any work he does is not only legal, but also wholly ethical," Cowen said in a written statement. Lucio has gone to great lengths to ensure that the consulting work complies with all legal and ethical requirements, Cowen said, noting that he requested a formal attorney general's opinion on whether a legislator can provide consulting, marketing and public relation services to clients who have dealings with government officials. Cowen said Lucio also consulted with two attorney generals, the Texas Ethics Commission and hired a private attorney to ensure that his business affairs followed the law. In a July 2003 opinion, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told Lucio that laws do not categorically prohibit a legislator from representing a client's interests before government officials or entities. Still, Abbott said, legality depends on the specific facts of a case. Abbott wrote that Lucio did not elaborate on the nature of his clients' businesses nor on his dealings and communications on their behalf. Furthermore, whether a public servant's outside employment creates a conflict of interest frequently requires resolving fact questions, which is beyond the purview of the opinion process, Abbott's opinion states. Abbott wrote that a legislator should be aware of the provisions in Chapter 36 of the Texas Penal Code. A legislator may not solicit or accept any benefit unless it falls within one of the exceptions recognized by the code, the opinion states. Abbott noted that the primary exception allows a legislator to accept fair compensation for work performed in a capacity other than as a public servant. "Should you have a specific concern, you may wish to consult with private counsel," Abbott advised Lucio. Lucio told The Brownsville Herald in 2002 that he did not consult with an attorney. Cowen on Monday said that Lucio provided legitimate services to the firms that contracted him. "Senator Lucio has nothing to hide, and is happy to have a competent, unbiased prosecutor review all of the evidence in this matter. Unfortunately, Mr. Guerra's words and actions show him to be neither unbiased nor competent," Cowen said. Guerra vehemently denies that his charges against Lucio are part of a vendetta against the senator. "The problem with Eddie Lucio is that he has not explained what he does for these companies," Guerra said. During a recent court hearing, Guerra said that if a jury found companies hired Lucio because he is a senator and not because of services he provided "then that's kickbacks and that's it." On Thursday Guerra said, "He (Lucio) says that he has permission from the attorney general, but the attorney general opinion did not give him permission (to receive fees from the firms). And then he said he got permission from the Texas Ethics Commission, and he has not produced one document showing that. The accusation that I have a vendetta is a smokescreen." Bañales on Dec. 1 dismissed all charges against the high-profile defendants. And Wednesday, he removed Guerra from bringing any further charges in the cases against Lucio and others in which he has a "clear bias and prejudice." However, even though Guerra appears hamstrung in his proclaimed quest for justice, the saga may be nowhere near an end. DA Pro Tem Alfredo Padilla, whom Bañales appointed to review the indictments, said Thursday that he wants to present all of the evidence that Guerra gathered to a new grand jury, which will be impaneled early next year.

December 8, 2008 Valley Morning Star
District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said Monday that state Sen. Eddie Lucio's elected position conflicts with his job as a consultant for companies that work within his jurisdiction. Guerra said he believes that companies hire Lucio because of his position as a state senator and that Lucio uses his influence to obtain the consulting work. "These people are hiring him because of his position and not because of his skills," Guerra said in an interview. "There's no way to justify it." Lucio could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon. Guerra said that Lucio could work as a consultant but not within his state Senate District 27, that includes Cameron, Kenedy, Kleberg, Willacy and part of Hidalgo counties. Lucio was first elected in 1991. But Edmundo Ramirez, a McAllen attorney who represents Ronald Holmes, an attorney for CorPlan Corrections in Dallas, one of the companies for which Lucio is a consultant, noted the Texas Ethics Commission has sanctioned Lucio's work as a consultant. "The ethics commission has found nothing wrong with those payments," said Ramirez said, referring the consulting fees Lucio is paid. Lucio owns an advertising and public relations firm in Brownsville. "Sen. Lucio gets hired because of what he brings to the table," Ramirez said. "He's a PR man. He's a good one. He brings value to the table. "Regardless of what Mr. Guerra believes, (payments) are legal and have been properly reported by Sen. Lucio. The law is the law." The Texas Attorney General's Office sanctioned Lucio's work as a consultant in a legal opinion issued in July 2003. Texas law states that "it must be the services rendered and not the status of the public servant rendering the services that is of value to the person for whom the services are performed," the Attorney General's opinion noted. CorPlan, a prison consulting company, requested on Monday that a judge quash Guerra's subpoena that orders the company to appear in court Wednesday. Guerra said he wants CorPlan to appear in court to disclose the nature of the services it pays Lucio to perform. Last month, Guerra pushed for grand jury indictments against Lucio, Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and several local elected officials. State District Judge Manuel Bañales threw out those indictments. But Michael Cowen, Lucio's attorney, believes Guerra will try to re-indict Lucio before Guerra's fourth term expires Dec. 31. The grand jury is set to meet Friday for its last scheduled session before its term expires Dec. 31, District Clerk Gilbert Lozano said. Cowen will request that Bañales on Wednesday disqualify Guerra as prosecutor, arguing Guerra's "personal animosity toward Lucio creates a conflict of interest." Guerra filed subpoenas on Dec. 5 to order CorPlan, Management and Training Corp., Aguirre Inc., Hale Mills Corp., TEDSI Infrastructure Group Inc. and Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. to appear in court. Lucio has worked as a consultant for these companies. CorPlan, Management and Training Corp., Aguirre and Hale Mills are companies that worked on a $14.5 million prison project that was the focus of a bribery scandal that led to the convictions of former Willacy County commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez and former Webb County Commissioner David Cortez.

December 6, 2008 Brownsville Herald
The dismissal last week of indictments against a host of elected officials, including state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., in a Raymondville courtroom did not signal the end of attorney Michael R. Cowen's trips to this city of about 10,000 people. If Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra sees himself as the biblical "David," as he has described himself, Lucio's attorney, Cowen, would be his "Goliath" this week. Both will square off Wednesday during a hearing before District Judge J. Manuel Bañales. Pundits predict that there will be plenty of slings. Guerra said he aims to show at the hearing that consulting fees Lucio received from six firms were illegal and not earned. Most of the firms did work associated with private prisons in Willacy County. Instead, Guerra maintains that the only reason the firms paid Lucio is because he has the word "senator" before his name. Cowen has said previously that Guerra is "vindictive" and his animosity against the senator rises to a conflict, rendering the DA incapable of pursuing any charges leveled at the senator. Guerra issued subpoenas Friday against the firms that purportedly paid Lucio, D-Brownsville, consulting fees, including the firms Management and Training Corp., CorPlan Corrections, Aguirre Inc., Hale Mills Corp., TEDSI Infrastructure Group, Inc. and Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. They were directed to attend the Wednesday hearing and provide documentation, including contracts with Lucio for his services. Public records from the Texas Ethics Commission show that Lucio received at least $300,000 from five of the firms from 2003 through 2007. It could not be confirmed if Lucio received money from Hale Mills Corp. as the grand jury indictment maintains. Lucio suspended his services to CorPlan Corrections, Management and Training Corp. and Aguirre Inc. in January 2005 amid the bribery convictions of two Willacy County commissioners and subsequently a Webb County commissioner, according to documents that Lucio provided to The Brownsville Herald. The commissioners were convicted in a bribery and money-for-votes scheme relating to construction and management of the Willacy Adult Correctional Center. The companies were not charged. Cowen did not respond to a request for comment for this story. A grand jury indicted Lucio Nov. 17 for accepting fees from the firms from January 2005 through September 2008, alleging that they paid him only because he is a senator. The indictment charged that Lucio ". . . has, with this action, made a personal profit as a result of his holding said office as a Texas senator for District 27." Bañales dismissed the indictment Dec. 1, agreeing with Cowen's contentions, including that the six-count indictment did not that Lucio had willingly, knowingly, or recklessly engaged in the alleged conduct. Guerra's goal is also to show that the Nov. 17 grand jury did not indict Lucio because of Guerra's vindictiveness or anger toward Lucio, but because there is evidence to support the jury's indictment that Lucio profited from his elective office contrary to law. Whether or not Bañales in the 10 a.m. hearing allows Guerra to present evidence against Lucio or if representatives of the firms even show up is up in the air.

September 19, 2008 Valley Morning Star
Willacy County residents make up more than half of employees at a county-owned prison and a detention center that holds illegal immigrants, said the company that runs the operations. Criminal background checks screen out about 2 percent of people who apply for jobs at the 525-bed prison and the 3,000-bed detention center, said Carl Stuart, a spokesman for Management and Training Corp. in Centerville, Utah. But three years after the detention center opened, the local job pool is "tapped out," Stuart said in an e-mail. Now the company recruits more employees from outside the county, he said. County residents make up about 73 percent of employees at the detention center that the company operates for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Stuart said. The country's largest illegal immigrant detention center employs about 700 workers, said Jackie Roberson, Raymondville's economic development manager. The detention center pays starting wages of about $9.36 an hour, Stuart said. Locals make up about 53 percent of employees at the county-owned prison that holds prisoners for the U.S. Marshals Service, Stuart said. The prison pays starting salaries of about $17 per hour. The prison employs about 200 workers, Roberson said.

February 7, 2008 Valley Morning Star
Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence on Tuesday denied accusations that he failed to comply with bookkeeping laws. Spence said he did not break any laws and has not done anything illegal. He said no one in the county government has ever told him to operate the Sheriff’s Department differently than the way he’s been running it for years. County Treasurer Ruben Cavazos said Spence failed to keep receipts, failed to charge federal officials for services and improperly deposited money. The accusations come as Spence faces longtime Chief Deputy David Martinez and Constable Ben Vera in the March 4 race for the office he’s held since 1985. “We’re not trying to hide anything here,” Spence said. “We have open books. There’s no intent to defraud here.” Cavazos accused Spence of failing to deposit certificates of deposit into a county bank account. Instead, Spence uses a Sheriff’s Department account to which Cavazos does not have access, Cavazos said. “If he had CDs in the bank, the bank will not tell me because he’s not using the county’s (account),” Cavazos said. Spence said the Sheriff’s Department has used its account for years but added the department had no certificates of deposit in the account. “Nobody has brought that to our attention until this came up,” Spence said of the accusation. “If there was something that needs to be adjusted, someone should tell us.” Cavazos also accused Spence of failing to charge Management Training Corp., the company that runs a federal immigrant detention center, to conduct background checks on job applicants. “They have a lot of employees (so) that would be a lot of money for the county,” Cavazos said. In response, Spence said MTC told him that county commissioners said he couldn’t charge for background checks. Company spokesman Carl Stuart did not respond to a message requesting comment. County Commissioner Aurelio Guerra said he was “not aware of the situation or if any fees should be charged.”

January 24, 2008 Valley Morning Star
The Willacy County jail is close to breaking even more than a year after local officials feared investors would foreclose on it, Commissioner Eddie Chapa said this week. The jail must lure higher numbers of federal prisoners to make a monthly average of $58,000, Chapa said. So far, average inmate counts have generated between $40,000 and $45,000 a month, Chapa said. “The latest results show it’s almost paying for itself — not quite, but almost,” Chapa said. “That’s good news for us.” An influx of federal prisoners helped the 96-bed jail boost last year’s average inmate counts to about 80, Sheriff Larry Spence said. “We worked hard to try to make ends meet,” Spence said. Last year, officials also hiked the fee it charges the federal government to house prisoners from $30 a day to $45 a day at the jail that opened in 2004, Spence said. Four months after county commissioners set aside $25,000 for a jail administrator, the county still hasn’t hired the official who would handle billing while contacting the U.S. Marshals Service and Kleberg County to bring inmates to the jail. Now, the county might not need to hire the administrator, Chapa said. If the job was (created) to help the jail make its goal, why would we want to spend the extra money?” Chapa said. In October 2004, the county opened the jail that replaced an old jail that was plagued with a long string of escapes before it fell below state standards. Under the county’s plan, the new jail would hold federal inmates, for whom the Marshals Service would pay the county $30 a head per day. But federal inmates trickled in. Then in April 2006, the Marshals Service pulled female inmates out of the jail after a guard was arrested for having sex with a female prisoner. Two weeks later, county commissioners put up $137,000 to help the jail make its first payment to investors. For some county officials, the jail stood at the brink of foreclosure. “We got to a time when people were looking at other options,” Spence said. In November 2006, investors postponed a $433,000 payment after the jail ran short of money. “It was a struggle,” Spence said. “It had a rough start getting going,” In January 2007, the county entered into a contract with the Marshals Service that boosted the daily rent to $45 per prisoner.

August 28, 2007 Valley Morning Star
Willacy County Commissioner Aurelio Guerra on Monday questioned a contract that could pay more than $27 million to the company that runs an illegal immigrant detention center here. Wednesday, members of the Willacy County Local Government Corp., the non-profit organization that oversees the 2,000-bed detention center, will travel to Dallas to close a deal that’s expected to hire Management Training Corp. to run a 1,000-bed expansion. The $111.5 million contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would pay Utah-based MTC a “fixed annual fee” of $27.4 million when the detention center’s average monthly inmate count falls below 2,500, the contract states. The government would pay MTC $27.4 million plus $4.42 a head for each illegal immigrant when the detention center’s average monthly inmate count exceeds the 2,500 mark, the contract states. “It can be one inmate and we’re obligated to pay $27 million,” Guerra said. “In past agreements, there weren’t fixed fees.” Under a current agreement, a federal contract pays MTC $27.75 a head for each illegal immigrant held in the 2,000-bed detention center that averages about 1,500 detainees a month. But the contract does not bind the county to pay MTC $27.4 million a year, said Michael Harling of Municipal Capital Markets Group in Dallas. The contract would not tap into the revenue that the county needs to repay its debt, Harling said. First, the government’s money will go to pay the county’s debt, Harling said. Then it will go to pay the county, he said. “To the extent there is enough money, they will pay MTC,” Harding said.

August 2, 2007 KGBT TV4
Allegations of spoiled food and air conditioning problems, and no, we're not talking about Food 4 Thought. This story involving some detainees and security guards at the Willacy County detention center who are speaking out about life for two-thousand immigrants. We have obtained internal documentation from the Willacy detention center where not only detainees complain about the conditions inside, but also security guards have recorded in their logbooks dozens of undocumented immigrants that have found maggots in their food. The federal detention center located in Raymondville which houses two-thousand undocumented immigrants has received criticism for allegedly feeding detainees contaminated or rotten food. An action 4 News investigation reveals that in one instance, over 30 detainees reported that the quantity and quality of food are deplorable, an allegation confirmed by at least two security guards. One of those anonymous guards says: "the reason it gets contaminated it's because of the storage facility, they don't have the storage facility. They were trying to blame the companies that supposedly the food is coming in spoiled which is not true." Detainees say they don't have toiletries to keep their most basic sanitary needs, that they have problems communicating with the outside world, nevertheless finding an attorney or any kind of legal assistance. Anthony Matulewicz is an immigration attorney in south Texas and tells action 4 news he's seen what those immigrants go through. "things in Willacy was so bad that I actually saw first hand people eating with their hands" Sais Matulewicz. Security guards have also recorded that 50 detainees complained because they found maggots in their food, and refused to eat. The situation was so bad for an immigrant that he attempted to commit suicide. "He was being moved from one dorm to another because we were having a lot of problems with him. The detainee was depressed, he was hungry and he was not getting enough" said a Willacy detention center security guard. "so he was stealing from the other detainees on the commissary, you know Fritos, candy, whatever they get with their own money". Another detainee reported he lost $99-dollars when he was transferred from del Rio to Laredo,, he says his wife is eagerly awaiting to hear from his my new not so fondly found 'prison' life". Security guards say they can not believe what they see, they make reports and advice superiors but the situation is the same. Detainees are desperate and things may get out of hand. "My concern is that one of these officers one of these days is going to get hurt or one of these officers is going to hurt a detainee" emphasized the security guard. Inside the windowless, dome-shaped tents, they have bunk beds and communal showers. But immigration and customs enforcement officials tell Action 4 News, "we try to maintain the dignity and respect within each person, so the only way we can do that is have a set guideline to follow". But according to security guards two ladies fainted because of air conditioning problems last week, a problem frequently experience during the summer and winter time. Allegations range from giving rotten food to detainees, problems with air conditioning and heating, and immigrants attempting suicide due to what they call inhumane treatment Immigration and customs enforcement also tells Action 4 News they will look into each allegation and get back with us. Immigration officials insist those held at the facility are "detainees" and not prisoners.

February 25, 2007 AP
The engine of the old, borrowed camper chugs away in the parking lot of the county jail – three goats, a rooster and a horse alongside. It is the temporary home and office of Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra. Mr. Guerra, 52, has brought down public officials and continues investigations. Most recently, he filed – and then dropped – motions to have the sheriff and two elected officials removed from office. Now, he says, they're all out to get him. A special prosecutor raided his office recently and filed public theft charges against Mr. Guerra. They were dropped Friday. Depending on whom you talk to, Mr. Guerra is either a lone-wolf champion for South Texas justice or a chronic malcontent with some shady dealings of his own. "He's just been fighting with us for so many years," said Paul Cowan, chief of staff for state Sen. Eddie Lucio. "Anything you want to do, he wants to fight it, fight it, fight it. We have no problems working with any other officials. The problem lies with him." In 1991, with just two years' experience practicing law in a mechanic's garage, county commissioners appointed Mr. Guerra to fill in after the incumbent district attorney died. He began investigating the big landowners and business owners for crimes such as embezzlement and receiving double federal payments for fictitious crop losses. Now, Mr. Guerra has gone after the contractors involved in building private jails. County, state and federal lockups, and now the huge pods of the 2,000-bed immigration detention center, make a bleak campus on the former farmland. Mr. Guerra's investigation into a bribery scheme involving federal prison contracts led to guilty pleas by three former Willacy and Webb county commissioners. Mr. Guerra now says he wants to know more about Mr. Lucio's consulting contract for the prison company that built the $60 million federal complex of tent-like domes. Mr. Lucio said Mr. Guerra was upset about legislation he passed that left the county with only one state district judge – Migdalia Lopez, one of the officials Mr. Guerra wanted out of office. Mr. Lucio would not disclose his consulting fees for the prison deal but said they were "modest" and legal. He said the prison had been a win for the county. "We've brought more than a thousand jobs to that county, and Johnny Guerra has not brought one," he said. Mr. Guerra says another company was prepared to build the facility for $35 million. "In six weeks they spent $60 million," he said. "There's no way that thing cost $60 million." Two weeks ago, Mr. Guerra skipped court to go to Austin and look for a sympathetic ear. When he came back, a special prosecutor appointed by Judge Lopez had taken Mr. Guerra's computers and many of his files. Mr. Guerra now maintains he can't do his work. According to Judge Lopez's order appointing the special prosecutor, a grand jury complained that Mr. Guerra was pressuring them for an indictment in a sexual harassment case. The special prosecutor is Gustavo Garza, Mr. Guerra's four-time political opponent. Mr. Garza recently charged Mr. Guerra with three counts of felony theft by a public servant and one misdemeanor obstruction charge for trying to prevent officers from searching his office, but a judge Friday dropped the charges. Mr. Guerra has threatened to dismiss hundreds of cases in retaliation, but so far only four have been dropped. Townspeople don't know what to make of it. "It's a mess," said Polo Gracida, who came to watch court on Tuesday. "I don't know whether he's a hero or not. We're definitely due for a change."

November 22, 2006 Express-News
The last of three county commissioners who pleaded guilty to a $39,000 bribery scandal involving contracts for a new federal detention facility in the Rio Grande Valley has been sentenced. Former Webb County Commissioner David Cortez, 72, of Laredo was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Brownsville to three months in prison for funneling the bribes in 2002 to former Willacy County Commissioners Jose Jimenez of Sebastian and Israel Tamez, 60, of Raymondville in exchange for favorable votes in the selection of contracts for the 500-bed federal detention center here. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen also ordered Cortez to a two-year term of supervised release, including six months of house arrest. He was fined $25,000. Jimenez died before sentencing. Tamez, 60, was sentenced to six months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine. All three had faced 20 years in prison. Sheriff Larry Spence said the case had "drug out for so long." "I was surprised of the sentencing, but at the same time I am glad that they are getting finalized," he said. But it's still unclear if the case is over because authorities haven't made public where the money originated. Authorities have requested anyone else involved to come forward like the commissioners did, but no additional arrests have been made. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Houston declined to comment. Officials have said the companies hired to either design, build or manage the facility, which opened in 2003, were the Dallas-area firms CorPlan Corrections LTD and Aguirre Inc., along with Management Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, and Hale-Mills Construction of Houston. Municipal Capital Markets Group Inc, of Dallas, underwrote the bonds. "It seems like all the people that have investigated this thing, if there was somebody else in there that they would have been found," said Mike Harling, executive vice president of the investment firm. He said public records showed Cortez was hired by CorPlan, but he suspected he could have made the bribe on his own will. No company employees have been charged. "Just because you hire somebody, and hire in the liberal sense, doesn't mean that you are responsible," Harling said. "If you haven't asked them to go out and bribe somebody, if they choose to do that and choose not to tell you, what can you say?" Cortez resigned from the Webb commission at the time of his guilty plea in 2005. Webb County Judge Louis Bruni said the case is a sad example of a bad decision.

November 13, 2006 Killeen Daily Herald
A Willacy County official has a word of caution for the Coryell County Commissioners' Court as it considers a private prison vendor as a remedy for its overcrowded jail facility. "Have your sheriff talk to our sheriff. He will let you know what kind of problems he is having," said Juan Guerra, who pulls double duty as both county and district attorney in Willacy County. Guerra said his county has struggled through criminal investigations that saw two of its county commissioners convicted, and it is also is in danger of defaulting on a bond payment because it hasn't received enough federal prisoners to generate the needed revenue to sustain the facility. Coryell County Commissioners are expected to open a proposal from Innovative Government Strategies to construct and operate a jail facility when they meet in regular session at 10 a.m. Monday in the Coryell County Courthouse. According to the documents turned in by Innovative Government Strategies, the proposed project team includes James Parkey, with Corplan Corrections Inc., for developer, Hale-Mills for construction company, Municipal Capital Markets Group for financing, Deborah L. Williams for architecture and engineering and CiviGenics-Texas Inc. for management and operations. Coryell County Attorney Brandon Belt previously expressed concern about the proposed operator, saying that CiviGenics had been at the center of controversy recently. However, it is not just CiviGenics that has a troubled past. The commissioners' consideration of the group comes just days after a federal judge sentenced former Willacy County Commissioner Israel Tamez to six months in jail for his role in a bribery scandal connected to a $14.5 million prison project to construct a U.S. Marshals Service jail. On Nov. 9, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen handed down the sentence and also gave Tamez three years' probation and imposed a $25,000 fine. Tamez and former Commissioner Jose Jimenez, who died of cancer before being sentenced, pleaded guilty in January 2005 to taking more than $10,000 in kickbacks, Guerra said. Former Webb County Commissioner David Cortez also was involved in the scandal and was convicted in March 2005 of funneling the bribes to the Willacy County commissioners in exchange for their votes to hire a consultant in the prison project, Guerra said. Cortez is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20. "My understanding was, as far as implicating the company, it has not been implicated, but the commissioners have been convicted," Guerra said. "Our records indicate that when (Cortez) came before the commissioners when this happened four years ago, he represented himself as a private consultant for Corplan." In May 2005, Willacy County, on Guerra's instructions, filed a civil suit against Corplan and Hale-Mills alleging that the two companies were parties to the bribery. The suit later was dismissed, Guerra said. Guerra said he could not say whether a federal investigation was still pending, and U.S. District Court offices were closed Friday for the federal holiday. Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence could not be reached either. Guerra said the lack of competitive bids when Willacy was building its third federal facility – against his advice and despite the criminal implications – was not only suspect, but something that possibly lost Willacy County millions. "No one is checking to see if you are getting your money's worth," he said. "Because we don't know if that facility cost $50 million to construct." In fact, Guerra said according to information he received from experts, the project, which was for a facility to house Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, could have been done for between $30 and $35 million. "The information that I got, from experts that reviewed the expenses, says they could not justify the $50 million. They padded the construction costs by an extra $20 to $15 million," Guerra said. "What is funny you get commissioners that are indicted for taking $10,000. I am just wondering who are the real crooks?"

November 9, 2006 AP
A former Willacy County commissioner was sentenced to six months in federal prison Thursday for taking bribes in return for votes on a federal prison contract. Israel Tamez, 60, of Raymondville, also must pay a $25,000 fine and serve three years probation after his release. Tamez and former Willacy County Commissioner Jose Jimenez of Sebastian pleaded guilty in January 2005 to conspiracy to commit bribery. Tamez admitted receiving cash payments totaling $10,000 for voting to select particular companies to design, build, maintain and manage the prison. Charges against Jimenez were dismissed earlier this year after he died.

August 23, 2006 Valley Star
Willacy County officials will have to pay as much as $600,000 to bail out the new $7.5 million jail that has run short of money to pay investors who could foreclose, County Judge Simon Salinas said. The financially strapped county will have to set aside about $600,000 as officials work on a proposed $3.5 million budget that's unlikely to include $300,000 to reinstate employee health insurance. "It's a hard pill to swallow," Salinas said. The decision came after a Friday meeting in which Salinas and Sheriff Larry Spence agreed to a study that will help determine whether the county will run the jail or turn over operations to a management company. Management and Training Corp. (MTC), the Utah-based company that operates a 525-bed, county-owned prison and the county's new $60 million immigration detention center, will conduct the study at no charge, Salinas said. "It's kind of a feasibility study that looks at different options," Spence said. Friday, officials met with J.C. Conner, MTC's vice president, and Michael Harling of Municipal Capital Markets Group of Dallas, which handled the sale of bonds to fund construction of the county's jail, prison and the immigration detention center. After the meeting, Salinas said the county will have to budget about $600,000 to help the jail make its second payment in November. Like some commissioners, Salinas had said the county couldn't afford to bail out the jail. When county officials made plans to build the jail, they counted on housing federal prisoners to pay off project costs. Under the county's plan, federal prisoners - many of whom would be female inmates - would take up 48 of the jail's 96 beds. But the Marshals Service has failed to come through with a steady flow of prisoners, officials said. Spence has said the county's federal inmate count has steadily climbed to about 35. After a sex scandal, the Marshals Service hasn't housed female prisoners in the jail. In April, the Marshals Service removed 19 female prisoners from the jail amid the scandal. After an internal investigation, sheriff's officials fired two female guards after female prisoners accused them of offering favors to female inmates. A Texas Rangers investigation later led authorities to arrest a male guard accused of having sex with a female prisoner.

August 1, 2006 Valley Star
Willacy county commissioners won't bail out the new $7.5 million county jail if it can't afford to pay investors, County Judge Simon Salinas said Monday. Instead, commissioners may hire a private management company to operate the jail, Commissioner Aurelio Guerra said. But Sheriff Larry Spence warned that the county would pay as much $70 a day to house its prisoners in a privately operated jail. Monday, the jail held 49 county prisoners, he said. As commissioners work on their proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, they won't set aside $566,000 to make the jail's second payment, Salinas said. "I will not bail (it) out with local money," Salinas said. "I will not do it again." In late April, commissioners agreed to pay investors more than $137,000 after the jail ran short of money to make its first payment. The Willacy County Public Facilities Corp., a non-profit organization that oversees the jail that opened in October 2004, must make its second payment in November. Under the county's plan, federal prisoners - many of whom would be female inmates - would take up 48 of the jail's 96 beds. "We were told that was the need," Sheriff Larry Spence said of the plan to house female prisoners. "If we could build a facility to house females, (the Marshal's Service) would more than likely keep it full." But the Marshals Service has failed to come through with a steady flow of prisoners, officials said. Monday, the jail held 35 federal prisoners, Spence said. Since an April sex scandal, the Marshals Service hasn't housed female prisoners in the jail. "That definitely caused a problem," Spence said. In April, the sex scandal led the Marshals Service to remove 19 female prisoners from the jail.

July 23, 2006 Express News
The Willacy County attorney is speaking out against his county's new contract for a massive detention center because he said it involves companies still under a cloud from the 2004 bribery convictions of three elected officials. Juan Angel Guerra also accuses veteran Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, of going back on his word by continuing to represent the same firms. Former Willacy County Commissioners Israel Tamez and the late Jose Jimenez were convicted in 2004 of accepting bribes in exchange for favorable votes regarding a 600-bed prison that opened in Raymondville, the county seat, in 2003. The third convicted official, Webb County Commissioner David Cortez, was an associate of CorPlan Corrections, a consulting company at the time of the prison project. Cortez was accused of funneling the bribe money for favorable votes on contracts. No company employees, however, have been charged. Federal prosecutors wouldn't comment on the case, but observers believe the investigation is ongoing because the commissioners' sentencing dates have been pushed back several times. Meanwhile, the same firms are building a 2,000-bed detention facility near the same prison. Willacy commissioners voted 3-2 on Monday to approve $60.6 million in bonds for the new facility, which is on a fast-track construction schedule to house mostly non-Mexican undocumented immigrants in a series of tentlike structures for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Utah-based Management Training Corp., or MTC, will operate the facility; Houston-based Hale-Mills Construction Inc. is building it; and Argyle-based CorPlan is consulting on the project, said Guerra, who is the county and district attorney. A May 27, 2005, letter from commissioners to the county's nonprofit corporation set up to oversee the federal prison project asked it to "terminate its contractual relationship with CorPlan," because a Willacy County lawsuit against the firm alleged it was involved with the bribes. "Now they are asking me to sign a contract that includes CorPlan," Guerra said. "I told the commissioners you can't have it both ways. First you pass the resolution saying you don't want to deal with CorPlan. Now you do a contract that I know for a fact includes CorPlan. So we are back to square one." The lawsuit was dropped in April. County Judge Simon Salinas said he wasn't aware of the letter and resolution that prompted it. It's probably too late anyway, he added. "The contract is already signed, the work is already begun," he said. Regardless, Salinas said, the county can't proceed under the assumption that leaders of the companies are criminals. "In this country we are innocent until proven guilty," he said. "And nobody out there pressed charges against the companies. ... Just because these (commissioners) plead guilty doesn't mean everybody in the world is guilty." Guerra favored Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, which offered to finance the detention facility on its own rather than through the county. He said the commissioners initially favored CCA, but later picked MTC. Commissioner Noe Loya said Guerra "is trying to find every excuse to hire CCA, and change our minds, but it's over." Guerra said he met with Lucio two weeks ago and the veteran lawmaker pushed MTC. "I asked him, 'Are you talking to me as my senator or as an employee of one of these companies?'" Guerra said. "He told me he was talking to me as a consultant." Lucio said he met with Guerra because it "appeared that he had quite a bit of influence on the Commissioners Court." Lucio said he told Guerra he favored MTC because it treats its employees well. Lucio said he thought CorPlan had been cleared because the lawsuit filed on behalf of Willacy County against James Parkey, president of CorPlan, was dropped and there have been no other arrests. Parkey did not return a call seeking comment. "My main focus on talking with Johnny (Guerra) was trying to sell him on the fact that MTC was a very reputable company," Lucio said. "I feel very comfortably speaking on their behalf and asking them to consider us and that was my main focus." According to the Texas Ethics Commission, Lucio reported in 2005 that MTC and CorPlan paid him a total of at least $50,000 through his Brownsville company, Rio Shelters Inc. In the wake of the bribery scandal, Lucio said he had stopped representing the firms and wouldn't again until the matter was cleared up. "I know there has been a case, a problem, a situation there where somebody associated with (Parkey) out of Laredo was indicted and convicted," Lucio said, referring to Cortez. "But when the lawsuit against him was dropped, I felt that he was exonerated." Told that the bribery investigation may still be open, he said: "If it is, I am not aware of it." Asked if he was being paid by MTC or CorPlan for encouraging the detention center contract, he said: "It's up to them if they feel I did a good job." Lucio said it was "very hard to draw a fine line" between his job as a lawmaker and his private work, but added: "I can tell you this: I do my best." "I get paid $600 a month to be a state senator, and I do it just about on a full-time basis," he said. Damon Hiniger, a vice president of CCA in Tennessee, said he was surprised by the county's decision because CCA was going to invest its own money, pay about $1.8 million in property taxes, and shoulder the risk. Judge Salinas said he was influenced by the bottom line, nothing more. "I have nothing against CCA, they are a good reputable company, but they are in the business to make their own bucks," he said. The detention facility is to open Aug. 1 with 500 beds, and then have 1,500 more available Oct. 1. It is part of President Bush's Secure Border Initiative.

May 25, 2005 Valley Star
Willacy County commissioners will request that the Willacy County Public Facilities Corp. break its contract with a company that is a defendant in a county lawsuit. But rankled members of the Public Facilities Corp. (PFC) said they would stand by their vote to hire Corplan Corrections, a prison consultant in Irving. If PFC members refuse the request, commissioners could remove them, County Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said Tuesday, following commissioners’ request on Monday that the PFC terminate its contract with Corplan Corrections. On May 12, the PFC voted to hire Corplan to begin work on a 500-bed addition to a $14.5 million federal prison. The project’s cost had not been estimated, officials said. On May 13, Willacy County filed a lawsuit against Corplan and Hale Mills Inc., the contractor in the prison project. Willacy County formed the PFC as a nonprofit organization charged with the development of the prison project. In the lawsuit filed by attorney Ramon Garcia, the Hidalgo County judge, Willacy County claims illegal action voided the contract that led to the prison’s construction. The prison project has been the focus of an ongoing federal bribery investigation that has led to the convictions of two former Willacy County commissioners and a former Webb County commissioner.

May 21, 2005 Valley Star
The Willacy County Public Facilities Corp.’s decision to hire a company that is a defendant in a Willacy County lawsuit could jeopardize the case, District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said Friday. On May 12, the Public Facilities Corp. hired Corplan Corrections to expand the $14.5 million federal prison, a project that sparked a bribery scandal that led to the convictions of two former Willacy County commissioners and a former Webb County commissioner. The move would lead to the construction of a 500-bed addition to the prison, which opened with 500 beds in late 2003. The project’s cost had not been estimated, officials said. A day later, on May 13, Willacy County filed a lawsuit against Corplan, an Irving consulting firm, and Hale Mills Inc., a Houston contractor, claiming illegal action voided the contract that led to the prison’s construction. "It’s premature to enter into further contracts with those companies, especially with a pending lawsuit," Guerra said. Willacy County formed the Public Facilities Corp. as a nonprofit organization charged with development of the prison project. The Public Facilities Corp. owns the prison. Attorney Ramon Garcia, the Hidalgo County judge who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Willacy County, declined to comment on whether the Public Facilities Corp.’s action jeopardized the lawsuit. "I’ve been hired to represent parties regarding the facility that’s already been constructed," said Garcia, who Guerra said was working on a contingent fee that would pay him 40 percent of any damages awarded. "These are separate and distinct transactions." In the lawsuit, Willacy County claims former Webb County Commissioner David Cortez worked as a consultant to the two companies when he funneled about $39,000 to "several" Willacy County commissioners. In turn, former Willacy County Commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez agreed to vote to select the companies for the project, the lawsuit claims. In March, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen convicted Cortez of funneling about $39,000 in bribes to "several" Willacy County commissioners in exchange for their votes to hire a consultant in the prison project. In January, Hanen convicted Tamez and Jimenez after they pleaded guilty to taking more than $10,000 in bribes in the project. An ongoing federal and state investigation is expected to lead to charges against at least one other Willacy County elected official, authorities have said.

May 18, 2005 AP
Willacy County has filed a lawsuit against two companies involved in a $14.5 million federal prison project that became entwined in a bribery scheme. The civil lawsuit was filed last week in state district court against Corplan Corrections of Argyle and Hale Mills Inc. of Houston. The suit claims the companies conspired to bribe county commissioners to select them for the construction project. Although the lawsuit does not specify damages, District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said the financially troubled county could get title to the prison. "The contract would be null and void, so technically the prison would end up belonging to the county free of charge," Guerra said in Thursday editions of the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen.

March 25, 2005 San Antonio Express-News
A third former South Texas county commissioner charged in connection with a bribery scandal surrounding a detention facility in the Rio Grande Valley was convicted Thursday in Brownsville. Authorities said others could be charged. David Cortez, 70, of Laredo, a former Webb County commissioner, was charged, pleaded guilty and was convicted Thursday of conspiring to "obstruct, delay and affect commerce" for his role in helping secure a contract for the Willacy County Adult Correctional Center in Raymondville. He waived his right to have a grand jury investigate. The charge accused him of funneling at least $39,000 to help a consulting firm get part of the job. Cortez is cooperating with the FBI in an ongoing investigation, authorities said. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and is scheduled to be sentenced June 28. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The name of the consulting company he secured the bids for was not released. Two former Willacy County commissioners, Jose Jimenez of Sebastian and Israel Tamez of Raymondville, pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to accepting bribes of $10,000 or more for their votes awarding contracts to build the 500-bed detention facility used for federal inmates. Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said the Dallas-area firms CorPlan Corrections LTD and Aguirre Inc., along with Management & Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, and Hale-Mills Construction of Houston, were the companies hired to either design, build or manage the Raymondville facility, which opened in 2003. "Most of these guys have worked together on several projects," Spence said. Asked to confirm that Cortez had worked for CorPlan, the firm's director, James Parkey, said by phone, "I have no comment on that. Obviously that's a tickly subject and I could refer you to my attorney." According to a charging document, "several Willacy County commissioners did solicit and receive things of value" from Cortez "in exchange for providing advantages not available to others interested in and competing for the selection of a consultant" for the facility. "It was further part of the conspiracy that several Willacy County commissioners did agree to tacitly and implicitly to provide (Cortez) and other corporate representatives with assurances in their capacity" as commissioners, that Cortez and the company he represented "would receive favorable consideration" in exchange for money, the document states. The commissioners agreed to accept the money in June 2000 and were paid around October 2002, according to court records.

February 26, 2005 Houston Chronicle
When traditional jobs in agriculture and the oil patch began to shrink, Willacy County saw salvation in prisons and jails. A 540-bed jail opened for federal prisoners in 2003 and a 96-bed county jail is now nearing completion, both located next to an existing state jail at the main crossroads of this rural county in the deep Rio Grande Valley. In addition to the jobs provided at the facilities, county officials envisioned ringing cash registers as inmates' families made visits, spending money at local hotels, gas stations and restaurants. But today, the optimism has been overshadowed by scandal. A pair of county commissioners await sentencing in April after admitting taking bribes from corporate executives in exchange for voting on jail contracts. The executives haven't been identified in federal charges. Compounding all that is a dramatic drop in the number of inmates being housed in the federal facility. Since November, the U.S. Marshals Service has removed more than 200 prisoners to jails in neighboring Cameron County, where jail costs are nearly half what Willacy jailers are paid under the existing federal contract. Willacy's 2005 budget counted on a projected $300,000 payment from Management Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, the private management firm that operates the jail. Willacy County receives a $2 share of the $70-plus daily payment received for each federal inmate. Today, there are about 300 inmates in the 540-bed jail, and the private management company acknowledges it is losing money. Executives with the companies that built and manage the federal jail strongly deny any involvement with the bribery scandal. Hale-Mills Construction Inc., a Houston firm that built both the federal jail and the nearly completed county jail, which cost $7.5 million in financing and construction, did not return repeated calls for comment. But the firm issued a statement denying any knowledge of the bribes. Edmundo Ramirez, a McAllen attorney representing Corplan Corrections of Argyle, the project manager, said, ''We have no involvement with that (bribery) at all." District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said the first sign of any criminal wrongdoing surfaced when the county's public facilities corporation — created in 1999 to build the federal jail — received a $45,700 bill for a credit card account. Authorities soon learned ex-county auditor Armando Rubalcaba, who was hired after Garcia left in late 1996, had opened the account without telling other county officials, Guerra said. Rubalcaba also chaired the jail facilities' board of directors. The bill included thousands of cash withdrawals the auditor made from a convenience store he owns, as well as charges for trips to Las Vegas resorts, airline travel and expensive meals. Rubalcaba, fired for incompetence in October 2003, pleaded no contest to theft charges last year and agreed to tell investigators all he knew about corruption in the county. He accepted a plea bargain that allows him to be free on probation for 10 years, and he must make restitution to the county. After that, the investigation moved quickly, and on Jan. 4, two commissioners — Jose Jimenez, 67, and Israel Tamez, 58, — pleaded guilty to accepting more than $10,000 ''from particular corporate representatives who were selected for design, construction, maintenance and management of the jail." So far, Justice Department officials have refused to say who made the payoffs.

February 10, 2005 Valley Star
Willacy County officials are "disappointed" in the U.S. Marshals Service’s placement of inmates in the federal prison that they built to bolster the county budget, County Judge Simon Salinas said Wednesday. This week, the inmate count stood at about 313 in the 500-bed prison, up from an average of about 260 from October to December, Sheriff Larry Spence said. But county officials had based their $3.8 million general fund budget on near-capacity inmate counts projected to generate $300,000. "They’re hitting us in the pocketbook," Salinas said. As part of an agreement, Management & Training Corp., the private firm that runs the prison, pays the county $2 a day for each federal inmate housed in the county-owned prison. County officials expected the inmate count to jump after last month’s meeting with U.S. Marshal Ben Reyna. Jan. 4, Spence and State Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, traveled to Reyna’s office in Washington, D.C., to discuss the drop in inmates. Lucio participated as a consultant to Management & Training Corp., the company that manages the prison. A year-end money crunch led the Marshals Service to transfer inmates to jails with lower housing costs, Spence said. In 2000, county commissioners entered into a contract to build the $14.5 million prison after the Marshals Service solicited the construction of a South Texas prison to hold its inmates. The prison opened in October 2003. Last month, a U.S. district judge convicted former County Commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez after they pleaded guilty to taking more than $10,000 in kickbacks in the prison project.

February 7, 2005 San Antonio Express-News
State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, made the right decision by suspending his business ties, even if only temporarily, with three contractors connected to a federal detention facility at the center of a criminal investigation in the Rio Grande Valley. He should make it permanent. In announcing his decision, the South Texas legislator said he did not want any misperceptions about his business dealings. Lucio, president and CEO of Rio Shelters Inc. a marketing and advertising agency, has been on the payroll of the three companies involved in that public construction project for several years. His primary job was to introduce company officials to power brokers in the Rio Grande Valley. In interviews with the Brownsville Herald, Lucio said he has worked with CorPlan Corrections of Argyle, Aguirre Inc. of Dallas and the Management and Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, since 1999 earning about $100,000 a year. If that is so, why didn't his employment with the three companies appear on his financial disclosure statements filed with the state until 2004? Lucio is correct when he says it is all about perception for a politician, and omitting vital information about his employers on his state officeholder reports raises serious questions. 

January 20, 2005 Brownsville Herald
State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. on Tuesday temporarily suspended his consulting work for three companies involved with constructing and managing a Willacy County federal detention center — the focus of a federal bribery investigation. Lucio, D-Brownsville, told The Brownsville Herald on Wednesday that he has taken a “leave of absence” from representing James Parkey’s CorPlan Corrections of Argyle, Pedro Aguirre’s Aguirre Corp. of Dallas, and J.C. Conner’s Management and Training Corp. (MTC) of Georgetown, until the federal inquiry in Willacy County concludes. Lucio said he would reassess the relationship with the firms that pay him about $100,000 a year combined. The federal investigation already has resulted in the Jan. 4 convictions of Willacy County commissioners Jose Jimenez of Sebastian and Israel Tamez of Raymondville for accepting at least $10,000 in bribes in exchange for their votes in awarding contracts for the center’s construction. U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby has not charged the corporate representatives who allegedly bribed Jimenez and Tamez. Companies involved in the project also have not been accused of any wrongdoing. Lucio said Wednesday that he has been on CorPlan’s payroll since 1999 and that the other two firms soon contracted him. He wouldn’t say when or how much each specifically has paid him for marketing the firms and introducing them to public officials. The Herald found, however, that it was not until 2004 that Lucio reported the companies in his financial statements. Asked if he believed that the companies would pay him more than $100,000 a year were he not a senator, Lucio said that “it might seem like a lot of money, and it is in our area of the state, but there are senators and representatives that are making much more money on one case than I do in one year. So, I am not ashamed of what I make. I worked for that.”

January 13, 2005 Valley Morning Star
State Sen. Eddie Lucio on Wednesday stood behind his work as a consultant for a company involved in a $14.5 million federal prison project in Willacy County. Last week, Lucio was working as a consultant for Corplan Corrections and Management & Training Corp. (MTC) when he went to Washington D.C., to discuss a recent drop in the federal prison’s inmate count with U.S. Marshals Service Director Ben Reyna. The prison project has become the subject of an investigation that led to the conviction of two Willacy County officials of taking bribes from at least one of the companies involved in the design and construction of the prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. No company has been named as the source of the bribes. The prison has been struggling to maintain the number of federal inmates it houses. A decline in the number has hurt Willacy County financially. The county for months has been struggling to keep from plunging into debt. MTC requested the meeting with Reyna, Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said, since the Marshals Service sends federal inmates to the prison. "I think it helped. It kind of opened the door," said Spence, who traveled to Washington, D.C. with Lucio and County Commissioner Noe Loya. Lucio’s connection to the prison goes back for several years. In 1999, Lucio "introduced" Corplan Corrections to Willacy County commissioners as they began to plan for a federal prison here, Lucio said of the Argyle consulting firm that worked to develop the project. Among Lucio’s clients is Aguirre Construction, the Dallas firm that designed the federal prison. Lucio also works as a consultant for MTC, the Utah firm that manages the prison. Last week, U.S. district Judge Andrew Hanen convicted former Willacy County Commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez of taking more than $10,000 in kickbacks in the federal prison project. Federal prosecutors charged Tamez and Jimenez received kickbacks "from particular corporate representatives who were selected in the competition" for the prison project. The 500-bed prison’s inmate count dropped from near-capacity in early October to about 240 in December, Spence said, noting MTC pays the county $2 for every prisoner. The financially embattled county projected $300,000 in federal prison money to boost its $3.8 million general fund budget. A year-end money crunch led the Marshal’s Service to transfer inmates to prisons with lower housing costs, Spence said.

January 13, 2005 Brownsville Herald
Three companies with ties to state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, worked on the construction of the federal detention center in Willacy County, which is now the subject of an federal investigation into bribes. Inquiries already netted the Jan. 4 convictions of Willacy County commissioners Jose Jimenez, 67, of Sebastian, and Israel Tamez, 58, of Raymondville. They each pleaded guilty to accepting $10,000 or more in bribes from corporate representatives involved in the design, construction, financing, maintenance and management of the detention center, according to U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby. According to public records, the primary companies involved in the project include jail consultant Corplan Corrections of Argyle, design-builder Hale-Mills Construction of Houston, Aguirre Corp. of Dallas, and the Management and Training Corp. (MTC) of Utah, which manages the detention center. Federal Election Commission records also identify Corplan’s James M. Parkey as an architect with Aguirre Corp. Lucio has been on Corplan’s, Aguirre’s and MTC’s payroll for about four years for marketing, public relations and consulting work. He remains on the payrolls of at least Corplan and MTC, The Brownsville Herald found Wednesday. Asked if he was involved in wrongdoing, Lucio answered without hesitation. “Of course not,” he said. “You don’t even have to ask that.” In a prepared statement, Shelby said the two commissioners admitted to accepting a series of bribes from June 2000 through March 2003 in exchange for their votes awarding contracts for the construction of the detention center. In June 2000, The Brownsville Herald reported that Lucio authored legislation in 1999 clarifying that counties can enter into a contract with a private vendor for the design, management or construction of jails. Lucio was a consultant for MTC in 2000, which had been vying for the Cameron County detention center project. Lucio told The Brownsville Herald in 2002 and 2004 that Corplan, Aguirre, MTC and other firms contracted him for marketing, public relations and consulting work. He said this included introducing and setting up meetings with local governmental officials. Lucio’s 2003 financial statement filed in 2004 with the Texas Ethics Commission reflects that Aguirre paid him $10,000 to $24,999; TEDSI $25,000 or more; Corplan $25,000 or more; and MTC $25,000 or more. Lucio declined to tell The Brownsville Herald on Wednesday the specific amount of money Corplan and MTC paid him. He confirmed that he continues on their payroll, however.

January 8, 2005 Valley Morning Star
Willacy County commissioners will consider hiring attorney Ramon Garcia, Hidalgo County’s judge, to investigate whether there are grounds to sue companies involved in a federal prison project that paid kickbacks to two former commissioners.   Friday, an attorney representing a company involved in the prison project vehemently denied Corplan Corrections was involved in any wrongdoing. Monday, commissioners will consider hiring Garcia to investigate whether there are grounds to file a civil lawsuit against companies involved in the $14.5 million federal prison and the current development of a $7.5 million county jail. "We’re not going to tolerate companies coming in to take advantage of small counties and offering kickbacks and going on like it’s business as usual," District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said. "Whoever offers kickbacks is just as guilty as those taking kickbacks." Tuesday, U.S. district Judge Andrew Hanen convicted former commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez of taking more than $10,000 in kickbacks in the federal prison project. Under the law, contracts that involve illegal activity are void, Guerra said. "Someone gave them that money," County Judge Simon Salinas said. "Whoever made these guys get dirty, they’re going to go down, too. I want them to pay for it. Someone’s going to take them on in the courtroom." The county could win "millions" of dollars in damages because a financial firm involved in the project has sold about $25 million in bonds — about $10 million more than the prison’s $14.5 million cost, Guerra said.  But that bond money was used to pay interest, said Edmundo Ramirez, a McAllen attorney representing Corplan Corrections, a consultant in the federal prison project.

Willacy County Federal Detention Center, Raymondville, Texas
November 17, 2009 Texas Tribune
The detained immigrant told officials at the South Texas Detention Complex he’d been sexually assaulted and tortured in his home country and asked for medical care. Six weeks later, when he still hadn’t seen a doctor, the facility medical director offered this explanation: The complex didn’t have a local urologist on contract. That wasn’t the only health care shortfall Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigators cited in a 2008 report, one that didn’t name the detainee or his ethnicity. Sixteen of the facility’s 40 “critical” health care positions were vacant, leaving one staff doctor and two dozen nurses to care for nearly 1,400 detainees. The complex had no psychiatrist and no dentist, and was short 11 nurses. As a result, investigators said, chronic care management was “haphazard at best.” Monitoring of prescription drugs was lax. And not all intake screenings were performed on time. “Poor medical care was the most problematic issue facing the facility,” investigators wrote. ICE officials say the agency “is committed to providing all detainees in our care with timely, safe, humane and appropriate treatment.” “Significant reforms are being made to the immigration detention system and health care management,” said agency spokesman Carl Rusnok. But many federal authorities say they’re battling the same staffing shortages facing hospitals, nursing homes and prison systems nationwide. Though they are aggressively recruiting, they’re competing for candidates with the higher-paying private sector. Immigrant rights groups say the remote locations of many Texas detention centers only contribute to high employee turnover and vacancy rates. That leads to overmedication, poorly kept medical records, and “sporadic and inconsistent care,” said Ann Baddour, a policy analyst with Texas Appleseed, a non-profit that uses volunteer lawyers to help solve social problems. Some get no care at all, she said. A 2007 review of medical care at the Willacy Detention Center in Raymondville found medical staffing was “barely adequate,” and that the facility’s clinic was too small to care for its 1,800 detainees. Twenty of the facility’s 46 health care positions were vacant. The detention center had no clinical director, dentist, pharmacist or psychiatrist. Half of Willacy’s licensed vocational nurses hadn’t even completed new employee orientation. In facility inspections in 2007 and 2008, investigators cited medical staffing shortages at the Port Isabel Service Processing Center, the El Paso Processing Center and the Laredo Contract Detention Facility. In El Paso, five of the facility’s 34 health care positions were vacant – including the staff psychiatrist. At the Port Isabel facility, inspectors found a third of detainees’ medical requests weren’t handled in a “timely” manner. And in Laredo, inspectors found detainees with doctor-ordered dietary requirements weren’t getting the right food, and that patients had little privacy in the facility clinic. Kathleen Baldoni, a former nurse at the Willacy Detention Center, said these problems are common across Texas' facilities. She said inmates suffering from health problems are "lucky to be seen within a week,” and that many illnesses occur because detainees don’t get enough water or nutritional food. Medical staff never even get around to simple quality of life fixes, she said, like cleaning out detainees’ hearing aids or replacing broken eye glasses. “We didn’t delve into anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary,” said Baldoni, who has testified before Congress on health care in immigration detention. “After a while, you stop thinking about the people. You force yourself not to care as much. Because how else do you get the job done?”

October 7, 2009 San Antonio Express-News
In a move that could affect the revenues of private prison firms and county jails, the Obama administration said Tuesday it will review, renegotiate and possibly terminate some of its more than 300 contracts for detaining unauthorized immigrants. The announcement by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is part of an overhaul aimed at ending the reliance on penal institutions for detainees with noncriminal immigration violations or valid asylum claims. The overhaul, first announced in August, followed scathing reports and lawsuits by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups alleging inhumane conditions, denial of medical care, and isolation in remote areas with limited access to pro-bono legal aid. Napolitano, in a news conference with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary John Morton, said she inherited a scattered “nonsystem” of government and privately run facilities that needed to be monitored. “It's a huge range of detainees,” she said, “from those who have criminal records who need to be in a very prisonlike setting to those who have no record at all and indeed have come seeking asylum.” The system has ballooned from 5,000 beds in 1994 to more than 32,000 beds in 2008, used by about 380,000 detainees that year. Napolitano said the capacity to detain people would remain, but the standards of “health and safety, law, and indeed human decency” needed to be enforced. Plans include centralizing operations, doubling the personnel involved in detention center oversight, building new facilities in urban locations near immigration service providers, and housing detainees in converted hotels, nursing homes, or other residential facilities. Detainees would be classified by risk, with nonviolent, noncriminal populations such as recently arrived asylum seekers sent to less prisonlike environments. Detainees with criminal convictions would remain in jails. There are also plans for an online system to locate detainees, something family members and even attorneys are not always able to do. The practice of detaining families at the T. Don Hutto Family Residence Center in Taylor, which drew criticism because of its cells and barbed wire, has already ended. The facility is now being used to house female detainees. It was unclear what effect the changes will have on private firms or communities that draw revenue from jailing detainees, but Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said the reduced population at the Willacy Detention Center in Raymondville — at 3,000 beds the nation's largest — has been apparent and may cause problems for a county that counts on jobs, taxes, and revenue from it. “I know the numbers are down from what they used to be,” he said. “It means the county hasn't had the same amount of money coming in.” The county subcontracts with Utah-based Management & Training Corp., a private prison management firm. Kathleen Walker, past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said she expected quite a few disappointed contractors. “I would imagine that in the state of Texas, where we have so many different county facilities and independent facilities run by contractors, that they are not going to like seeing a potential dip in revenues to retirement centers or abandoned hotels,” she said. “But to put people in on civil violations with people that have felony exposure is really just not acceptable.”

June 28, 2009 Brownsville Herald
It took about five years, but state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. seems to have phased out his paid consulting jobs for construction and engineering firms. Last year, however, he still received at least $25,000 in consulting fees from the Houston-based TEDSI Infrastructure Group, according to his personal financial statement on file with the Texas Ethics Commission. "I was fulfilling a prior obligation on a contract that I had with TEDSI which expired in 2008," Lucio wrote in a statement to The Brownsville Herald Wednesday. Lucio, D-Brownsville, did not say what he did for the firm, but in 2002 said that he would set up meetings and introduce the firm to officials in Brownsville. In 2004 amid mounting criticism of possible conflicts of interest, Lucio told the Herald that he would phase out consulting for firms that do business in the Rio Grande Valley and the state. Besides consulting for TEDSI, Lucio also was retained by CorPlan Corrections of Dallas, Management & Training Corp. of Utah, Aguirre Inc. of Dallas, and Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. of Houston. At the start of 2005, Lucio severed ties with CorPlan, Aguirre, and MTC amid federal inquiries into the federal detention center in Willacy County. A Webb County commissioner and two former Willacy County commissioners were convicted of bribery. Companies involved in the project were not accused of any wrongdoing. Lucio also stopped consulting for Dannenbaum, which he said he introduced to the Brownsville Navigation District. The BND paid Dannenbaum $15.4 million of $21.4 million spent toward developing a still non-existent international bridge at the Port of Brownsville. But, he continued consulting for TEDSI until last year. Lucio's prior financial statements show that in 2007 TEDSI paid him from $10,000 to $24,999 and $25,000 or more in prior years. Lucio had been on CorPlan's payroll since 1999. Aguirre, MTC and Dannenbaum then contracted him, but in interviews prior to 2004 he wouldn't specifically say when or how much each paid him. It was not until 2004 that Lucio started specifically listing the companies that retained him in his financial statements and these, coupled with prior interviews with the senator, reflect that the five firms paid him at least $340,000. Embattled former Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra obtained an indictment against Lucio last year, charging him with profiting from the elected office. Administrative Judge Manuel Bañales Jr. dismissed the indictment following arguments from Lucio's attorney, Michael R. Cowen, that the indictment was defective and that Guerra was seeking revenge against those who he perceived to be his political enemies.

February 4, 2009 Brownsville Herald
A federal investigation into contraband and narcotics trafficking in the Willacy County Detention Center in Raymondville netted the arrest of a guard in early January, court records show. This was not placed in the public record in the U.S. Southern District of Texas until Tuesday, however. A special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General arrested Thomas Najera, of Raymondville, on Jan. 8 for possession of approximately 28 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute it, according to a criminal complaint against the guard. During the course of an investigation, a special agent received information from an informant that Najera was smuggling narcotics into the facility for several inmates, the complaint says. The facility houses inmates under contract with the federal government. The complaint notes that Najera would charge a fee based on the type of material he was asked to smuggle. The special agent received further information that on Jan. 8 Najera was going to accept cocaine for delivery to a detainee in the center. The special agent conducted surveillance and at 8:45 p.m. on that date spotted Najera meeting a woman at the Wal-Mart parking lot in Raymondville. The woman gave Najera a small object, according to the complaint. The special agent and other agents approached Najera, searched a vehicle he was occupying and found the cocaine. Najera was arrested and U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio set a $50,000 bond, requiring a $2,000 deposit. Najera was released from federal custody in mid-January when the deposit was paid with instructions not to travel into Mexico, refrain from drug use, possession of drugs, or excessive alcohol consumption, and obtain a telephone line. Najera also could be subjected to random urine analysis. A private firm, Management & Training Corporation, operates and manages the detention center for Willacy County.

October 29, 2008 Raymondville Chronicle News
Willacy County's commissioners voted to give Sheriff Larry Spence $202,000 so he can make his construction bond payment of $439,000 for the county jail, which is due Nov. 1st. Commissioners also acted to pay down $3 million on the jail's principal debt of about $7.5 million, so the sheriff will be in a better position to make future bond payments. In past years the county has had to bail the sheriff out, so he could make bond payments, and not put the county in default. The $3 million would come from a $6 million revenue fee account from the 3,000 bed ICE Unit. Commissioners also voted unanimously to send a resolution to state and federal legislators expressing concern over recent firings of MTC workers at the 3,000 bed ICE Unit, due to a change in federal employment policies. Of concern to Judge Protem Emilio "Junior" Vera and Commissioner Eddie Chapa are dozens of MTC employee being fired, because their personal credit scores are below a certain level. "We've got a lot of good employees being fired," Vera said. "I spoke with an ICE official in San Antonio and said the county is concerned." The county's unemployment rate was 21 percent before the ICE Unit was built, and had dropped to eight percent just before the policy change, according to the resolution. The resolution states in part. "Willacy County ..... is deeply concerned regarding policy changes ... that will negatively impact the retention of local workforce." Employees at the ICE Unit sent a petition to U.S. Cong. Solomon Ortiz (D-Corpus Christi) several months asking for his help and intervention. Ortiz told the Chronicle/News is a prior interview that he was concerned as well.

May 11, 2008 Washington Post
Neil Sampson, who ran the DIHS as interim director most of last year, left that job with serious questions about the government's commitment. Sampson said in an interview that ICE treated detainee health care "as an afterthought," reflecting what he called a failure of leadership and management at the Homeland Security Department. "They do not have a clear idea or philosophy of their approach to health care [for detainees]," he said. "It's a system failure, not a failure of individuals." A new director for health services arrived six months ago, following a stretch when the agency was run first by Sampson and then by a second interim director. The new boss is LaMont W. Flanagan, who brought with him the credential of having been fired in 2003 by the state of Maryland for bad management and spending practices supervising detention and pretrial services. An audit found that Flanagan had signed off on payments of $145,000 for employee entertainment and other ill-advised expenditures. His reputation was such that the District of Columbia would not hire him for a juvenile-justice position. "Another death that needs to be added to the roster," Diane Aker, the DIHS chief health administrator, tapped out in an e-mail to a records clerk at headquarters on Aug. 14, 2007. Juan Guevara-Lorano, 21, was dead. Guevara, an unemployed legal U.S. resident with a young son, was arrested in El Paso for driving illegal border-crossers farther into the city. He was paid $50. An entry-level emergency medical technician, with barely any training, had done Guevara's intake screening and physical assessment at the Otero County immigration compound in New Mexico. Under DIHS rules, those tasks are supposed to be done by a nurse. After two difficult months in detention, Guevara had decided not to appeal his case. He would go back to Mexico with his family. But on Aug. 4, he came down with a splitting headache, what he called a nine on a pain scale of 10, his medical records show. The rookie medical technician prescribed Tylenol and referred Guevara to the compound's physician "due to severity of headache ... and dizziness," according to medical records. But Guevara never saw a doctor. Eight days after the first incident, he vomited in his cell. The same junior technician came to help but was unable to insert a nasal airway tube. Guevara was taken to a hospital, where doctors determined an aneurism in his brain had burst. His wife, pregnant at the time with their second child, recalled that she rushed to the hospital but ICE guards would not let her inside, until the Mexican Consulate interceded. Guevara's mother waited five hours before they let her in. By then he was brain-dead. "My son is not coming back," sobbed Ana Celia Lozano months later, sitting in Guevara's small mobile home as her grandson played on the floor. "I want to know how he lived and died, nothing more." What appears to be the most incriminating document in Guevara's case has been partially blacked out. Still, what is left shows that he did not receive adequate care. "The detainee was not seen or evaluated by an RN, midlevel or physician. . . . At the time of the incident on 8/12/2007, the detainee was seen and examined by EMTs." Each immigration facility is allotted a different number of positions, and a shortage of doctors and nurses is not unusual at centers across the country. Records from February show that about 30 percent of all DIHS positions in the field were unfilled. ICE officials said last week that the current vacancy rate is 21 percent. Concern about the vacancies is voiced repeatedly at clinical directors' meetings. "How do we state our concerns so that we can be heard? . . . this is a CRITICAL condition. . . . We have bitten off more than we can chew," a physician wrote in the minutes of one meeting last summer. In some prisons, the staffing shortages are acute. The Willacy County detention center in South Texas -- the largest compound, with 2,018 detainees -- has no clinical director, no pharmacist and only a part-time psychiatrist. Nearly 50 percent of the nursing positions were unfilled at the 1,500-detainee Eloy, Ariz., prison in February. At the newly opened 744-bed Jena., La., compound, nurses run the place. It has no clinical director, no staff physician, no psychiatrist and no professional dental staff. Last August, Sampson, who was then DIHS interim director, warned his superiors at ICE that critical personnel shortages were making it impossible to staff the Jena facility adequately. In a vociferous e-mail to Gary Mead, the ICE deputy director in charge of detention centers, he wrote: "With the Jena request we have been re-examining our capabilities to meet health care needs at a new site when we are facing critical staffing shortages at most every other DIHS site. While we developed, executed and achieved major successes in our recruitment efforts we have been unable to meet the demand." The slow ICE security-clearance process forced many job applicants to go elsewhere, Sampson wrote. Of the 312 people who applied for new positions over the past year, 200 withdrew, he wrote, because they found other jobs during the 250 days it took ICE, on average, to conduct the required background investigations. Last week, ICE officials said the average wait had decreased recently to 37 days. These shortages have burdened the remaining staff. In July 2007, a year after Osman's death in Otay Mesa, medical director Hui strongly complained to headquarters about workload stress. "The level of burnout . . . is high and rising," she wrote in an e-mail. "I know that I have been averaging approximately 2-6 hrs of overtime daily for the past 2 months. I will no longer be able to sustain this pace and will be decreasing the number of hours that I work overtime. This being said, more will be left undone because we simply do NOT have the staff." The overcrowding has created a petri dish for the spread of diseases. One mission of the Public Health Service is to detect infectious diseases and contain them before they spread, but last summer, the gigantic Willacy center was hit by a chicken pox outbreak. The illness spread because the facility did not have enough available isolation rooms and its large pods share recycled air, but also because security officers "lack education about the disease and keep moving around detainees from different units without taking into consideration if the unit has been isolated due to heavy exposure," noted the DIHS's top specialist on infectious diseases, Carlos Duchesne. The staff was forced to vaccinate the entire population in mid-July. In one 2007 death, memos and confidential notes show how medical staff missed an infectious disease, meningitis, in their midst. Victor Alfonso Arellano, 23, a transgender Mexican detainee with AIDS, died in custody at the San Pedro center. The first three pages of Duchesne's internal review of the death leave the impression that Arellano's care was proper. But the last page, under the heading "Off the record observations and recommendations," takes a decidedly critical tone: "The clinical staff at all levels fails to recognize early signs and symptoms of meningitis. . . . Pt was evaluated multiple times and an effort to rule out those infections was not even mentioned." Arellano was given a "completely useless" antibiotic, Duchesne wrote. Lab work that should have been performed immediately took 22 days because San Pedro's clinical director had ordered staff members to withhold lab work for new detainees until they had been in detention there "for more than 30 days," a violation of agency rules. "I am sure that there must be a reason why this was mandated but that practice is particularly dangerous with chronic care cases and specially is particularly dangerous with . . . HIV/AIDS patients," Duchesne wrote. "Labs for AIDS patients . . . must be performed ASAP to know their immune status and where you are standing in reference to disease control and meds." Given the frequency with which ICE moves people within the detention network, keeping track of detainees is critical to stopping the spread of infectious illnesses. The purchase of an electronic records system named CaseTrakker in 2004 was supposed to help. But according to internal documents and interviews, CaseTrakker is so riddled with problems that facilities often revert to handwritten records. A study at one site found that it took one-third more time to use CaseTrakker than to use paper. Thousands of patient files are missing. Recorded data often cannot be retrieved. Day-long outages are common. When detainees are transferred from one facility to another, their records, if they follow them, are often misleading. Some show medications with no medical diagnoses, or "lots of diagnoses but no meds," according to Elizabeth Fleming, a former clinical director at one compound in Arizona. After Yusif Osman's death and the discovery of the problem with his computerized records, the DIHS ordered a review of all charts at the Otay Mesa center. During the review, auditors also found that 260 physical exams were never completed as required. The nurse responsible for the error in Osman's case was reprimanded, but the computer problem was not fixed. The CaseTrakker system "has failed and must be replaced," Sampson, the DIHS interim director, wrote to his ICE supervisors in August. In January 2008, medical director Shack told colleagues that CaseTrakker "is more of a liability than the use of paper medical record system," according to the minutes of a meeting. It "puts patients at risk." ICE officials said last week that they are not satisfied with CaseTrakker and are working to replace it. Along with being at the mercy of computer glitches, detainees suffer from human errors that deny or delay their care. And with few advocates on the outside, they are left alone to plead their cases in the most desperate ways, in hand-scribbled notes to doctors they rarely see. "I need medicine for pain. All my bones hurt. Thank you," wrote Mexico native Roberto Ledesma Guerrero, 72, three weeks before he died inside the Otay Mesa compound. Delays persist throughout the system. In January, the detention center in Pearsall, Tex., an hour from San Antonio, had a backlog of 2,097 appointments. Luis Dubegel-Paez, a 60-year-old Cuban, had filled out many sick call requests before he died on March 14. Detained at the Rolling Plains Detention Facility in the West Texas town of Haskell, he wrote on New Year's Day: "need to see doctor for Heart medication; and having chest pains for the past three days. Can't stand pain." Ten days later he went to the clinic and became upset when he wasn't seen. He slugged the window, yelled, pointed at his wristwatch. He was escorted back to his cell. Another of his sick call requests said: "Need to see a doctor. I have a lot of symptoms of sickness ... as soon as possible!" The next was more urgent: "I have a emergency to see the doctor about my heart problems ... for the last couple days and I been getting dizzy a lot." The next day, Dubegel-Paez collapsed and died. His medical records do not show that he ever saw a doctor for his chest pains.

April 9, 2008 KRGV 5
The owners of the Willacy County detention center say they're investigating allegations an employee stole from a detainee. Representatives of the M & T Corporation say they can't comment because it's an ongoing investigation. But NEWSCHANNEL 5 learned a guard is accused of stealing property and money from a detainee. We spoke to J.C. Conner, the company's regional vice president on the phone. He confirms the investigation. He adds, "By policy, we carefully maintain every detainee's property. If any of it is missing, it is promptly replaced in its entirety." The company is contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE officials aren't commenting much at this time. They did release a similar statement. It read, "When ICE or MTC receives information that could affect the safety and security of those housed in the center, we conduct a thorough internal investigation. The details of such investigations, including the existence of an investigation, are not a matter of public record. If evidence of criminal law violation is encountered, it is immediately reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency." This is the second time within a year employees at the facility are being investigated. Last year, four guards were arrested after they allegedly used a company van to cross illegals past the Sarita checkpoint.

November 16, 2007 Valley Morning Star
A federal judge has set cash bonds of $150,000 on two detention center officers accused in what authorities say was an illegal immigrant smuggling ring operating out of the Willacy County Detention Center. Juan Treviño Jr., 27, and Alberto Vasquez, 37, both of Harlingen, appeared Friday before U.S. Magistrate Felix Recio. Recio originally set Treviño’s bond at $50,000, which would have allowed him to post $5,000 cash. But the judge raised the amount to match the bond for Vasquez after hearing testimony from a federal agent that Treviño is believed to be the ringleader of what he called a smuggling operation. Recio said he had made a mistake by setting a lower bond for Treviño and raised it. The agent said in court that the ring had smuggled illegal immigrants on more than one occasion, and Vasquez was a driver of a van that transported them. Federal investigators have charged the men with operating a smuggling operation in which illegal immigrants who were picked up at locations around Harlingen were transported in a van owned by the company that provides security at the detention center in Raymondville. They are charged with conspiring to transport illegal immigrants between Sept. 1 and Nov. 8. Treviño and Vasquez will be moved as soon as possible to Corpus Christi, where co-defendants Carlos Miguel Garcia, 36, and Benjamin Lopez Sanchez, 36, of Raymondville, are being held on charges that they were involved in the smuggling ring. Treviño and Vasquez were sergeants at the detention center in Raymondville while Garcia and Sanchez were detention officers there, officials said. The four worked for Utah-based Management Training Corp., which provides security services for the detention center, authorities said.

November 13, 2007 Valley Morning Star
Two more Willacy County immigration detention center officers, both from Harlingen, are facing charges in connection with transporting undocumented immigrants, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. Two others from Raymondville were arrested last week. Detention center sergeants Juan Treviño Jr., 27, and Albert Vasquez, 37, both of Harlingen, were arrested Sunday at their homes and are charged with conspiring to transport undocumented immigrants between Sept. 1 and Nov. 8, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle’s office. Detention center officers Carlos Miguel Garcia, 36, and Benjamin Lopez Sanchez, 36, both of Raymondville, are accused of attempting to drive 28 undocumented immigrants past the Sarita checkpoint Thursday, the news release states. The two were taken into custody early Friday. Treviño and Sanchez are charged separately in a criminal complaint filed Sunday. Their arrests were the result of an investigation by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The four men worked as detention officers for the Utah-based Management Training Corp., which provides security services for the Willacy County Detention Center in Raymondville, according to the release. Officials allege that Treviño recruited Vasquez, Garcia and Sanchez to pick up and transport immigrants who were smuggled into the country through locations near Harlingen past the Sarita checkpoint using MTC company vehicles, according to the news release. The 28 undocumented immigrants who were transported Thursday were not being held at the Willacy County Detention Center, Angela Dodge, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said. The undocumented immigrants had been picked up at various locations, including a canal and a soccer field, the release states. Garcia and Sanchez were wearing MTC uniforms and officials found a loaded .357 magnum pistol in the center console of the van when they attempted to drive the MTC F-450 van past the checkpoint Thursday, according to the release. Customs and Border Protection agents at the checkpoint became suspicious because the van was overcrowded, some passengers were sitting on the vehicle floor, none were shackled and many had luggage, the release states. Earlier that day, an anonymous caller told CBP agents that a vehicle carrying undocumented immigrants and driven by law enforcement officers was headed toward the checkpoint from Harlingen, according to the release. Garcia and Sanchez provided CBP agents with a transport log and said they were transporting 28 prisoners from the Willacy County Detention facility to San Antonio, the release states. Through contact with detention center officials, CBP agents determined there was no record that Garcia and Sanchez picked up 28 prisoners from the detention facility, according to the release. Four of the 28 have been designated as material witnesses and five others have been charged with illegal re-entry into the United States after a previous deportation or removal. The 28 were identified as nationals of Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, according to the release. Calls to MTC officials Tuesday were not immediately returned.

November 9, 2007 San Antonio News-Express
Two employees of the private company that manages the U.S. immigration detention center in Raymondville have been arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle 28 undocumented immigrants through an inland Border Patrol checkpoint, federal officials said Friday. U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped the vans full of immigrants at the Sarita checkpoint at around midnight Thursday. They took the employees into federal custody after determining they did not have authority to bring detainees through the checkpoint. The U.S. attorney's office is investigating, Immigration and Customs and Enforcement spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said. As of late Friday afternoon, charges still were pending. "We are working as we speak with this case," she said. "As far as we're concerned, it's still part of an ongoing investigation. The checkpoint, which is 45 miles north of Raymondville and about 90 miles north of the Mexican border, marks the end of the Border Patrol saturation zone for the eastern end of the Rio Grande Valley. Once past, smugglers consider themselves "home free" and the street value of narcotics rises dramatically. There are similar checkpoints on U.S. 281 at Falfurrias and north of Laredo on Interstate 35. The employees worked for the Centerville, Utah-based Management & Training Corp. A spokesman for the company did not return a call made to his cell phone late Friday. The 2,000-bed detention center opened after a rush of construction in 2006, in the wake of President Bush's vow to end a "catch and release" practice that was blamed on lack of detention space. Under the practice, non-Mexican detainees were set free with a "notice to appear" before an immigration judge. Few did. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts with Willacy County for the facility, and the county contracts with MTC to run it. The county recently has entered into an agreement to expand the facility by another 1,000 beds.

June 24, 2007 Valley Morning Star
Immigrant rights groups Sunday stood in front of a 2,000-bed federal detention center here, calling on the government to “Shut down tent city.” With cries like “No human is illegal,” about 75 demonstrators came from as far as San Antonio and Del Rio to protest the largest detention center in the United States. When it opened last year, federal officials touted the futuristic compound as a centerpiece in the government’s crackdown on illegal immigration. “Our main objective is to raise awareness of this tent city and to the separation of families,” said Elizabeth Garcia, a Brownsville activist who spearheaded the protest. “These are families who bought a house with their savings. They bought a piece of land,” she said of detainees. The demonstration marked the first protest of the $60 million detention center since its tent-like domes sprung up last summer. “It’s important for us to realize that we’re condoning this in our own backyard,” Garcia said. Over loud speakers, protesters called for an end to deportations at the detention center that holds illegal immigrants before they’re deported to their home countries. “There’s a lot of people who have children who are American citizens,” said Juan Torres, an activist from Weslaco. “How can you say a child has committed a crime? Does that mean the father’s alleged crime transcends to his children?” Jay Johnson Castro, who grabbed national headlines as he walked the border in protest of the planned border fence, called the detention center “a concentration camp.” “This is the battle front of America right here,” he told reporters. “This is the largest concentration camp on Planet Earth.” Others cited the detention center’s windowless design as inhumane.

July 26, 2006 Valley Morning Star
The county may be spending more than necessary to build a new detention center for illegal immigrants, Willacy County Attorney Juan Angel Guerra charged Monday. Guerra said that the companies behind the $60.6 million detention center over-billed the county by more than $15 million. Other companies could have constructed the project's 10 Kevlar-covered domes for $30 million to $35 million, Guerra said. "Nobody questioned it," Guerra said of county commissioners who voted 3-2 last week to borrow $60.6 million to build the 2,000-bed detention center. "The price is just ridiculous. Nobody did a comparison," Guerra said. "They spend more time when they buy a truck or a tractor, to call dealerships to see if they can get a better deal." Last month, commissioners entered into a two-year contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to build the detention center that's part of a national crackdown on illegal immigration. In a contract, companies behind the project put the cost of construction materials at $20 million and the labor costs at $30 million, Guerra said. Commissioners planned to issue about $50 million to fund the project. But costs jumped to $60.6 million to include $3 million to buy equipment to operate the detention center, $3 million to set up a reserve fund and $3 million in interest payments. Guerra pointed to four areas in which he said the contractor "inflated" costs. While Kevlar material costs $3.3 million, the contractor billed the county for $4.6 million, Guerra said. While the contractor billed the county for $3.6 million to prepare the 53-acre site for construction, other companies said they could have done the job for $1.6 million, Guerra said. The contractor billed the county for $2.8 million for sewer work, but other companies said they could have done the job for $800,000. And other companies said paving the asphalt parking lot would cost $150,000, the contractor billed the county for $400,000, Guerra said. "We cannot justify these costs," Guerra said.

July 23, 2006 Express News
The Willacy County attorney is speaking out against his county's new contract for a massive detention center because he said it involves companies still under a cloud from the 2004 bribery convictions of three elected officials. Juan Angel Guerra also accuses veteran Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, of going back on his word by continuing to represent the same firms. Former Willacy County Commissioners Israel Tamez and the late Jose Jimenez were convicted in 2004 of accepting bribes in exchange for favorable votes regarding a 600-bed prison that opened in Raymondville, the county seat, in 2003. The third convicted official, Webb County Commissioner David Cortez, was an associate of CorPlan Corrections, a consulting company at the time of the prison project. Cortez was accused of funneling the bribe money for favorable votes on contracts. No company employees, however, have been charged. Federal prosecutors wouldn't comment on the case, but observers believe the investigation is ongoing because the commissioners' sentencing dates have been pushed back several times. Meanwhile, the same firms are building a 2,000-bed detention facility near the same prison. Willacy commissioners voted 3-2 on Monday to approve $60.6 million in bonds for the new facility, which is on a fast-track construction schedule to house mostly non-Mexican undocumented immigrants in a series of tentlike structures for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Utah-based Management Training Corp., or MTC, will operate the facility; Houston-based Hale-Mills Construction Inc. is building it; and Argyle-based CorPlan is consulting on the project, said Guerra, who is the county and district attorney. A May 27, 2005, letter from commissioners to the county's nonprofit corporation set up to oversee the federal prison project asked it to "terminate its contractual relationship with CorPlan," because a Willacy County lawsuit against the firm alleged it was involved with the bribes. "Now they are asking me to sign a contract that includes CorPlan," Guerra said. "I told the commissioners you can't have it both ways. First you pass the resolution saying you don't want to deal with CorPlan. Now you do a contract that I know for a fact includes CorPlan. So we are back to square one." The lawsuit was dropped in April. County Judge Simon Salinas said he wasn't aware of the letter and resolution that prompted it. It's probably too late anyway, he added. "The contract is already signed, the work is already begun," he said. Regardless, Salinas said, the county can't proceed under the assumption that leaders of the companies are criminals. "In this country we are innocent until proven guilty," he said. "And nobody out there pressed charges against the companies. ... Just because these (commissioners) plead guilty doesn't mean everybody in the world is guilty." Guerra favored Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, which offered to finance the detention facility on its own rather than through the county. He said the commissioners initially favored CCA, but later picked MTC. Commissioner Noe Loya said Guerra "is trying to find every excuse to hire CCA, and change our minds, but it's over." Guerra said he met with Lucio two weeks ago and the veteran lawmaker pushed MTC. "I asked him, 'Are you talking to me as my senator or as an employee of one of these companies?'" Guerra said. "He told me he was talking to me as a consultant." Lucio said he met with Guerra because it "appeared that he had quite a bit of influence on the Commissioners Court." Lucio said he told Guerra he favored MTC because it treats its employees well. Lucio said he thought CorPlan had been cleared because the lawsuit filed on behalf of Willacy County against James Parkey, president of CorPlan, was dropped and there have been no other arrests. Parkey did not return a call seeking comment. "My main focus on talking with Johnny (Guerra) was trying to sell him on the fact that MTC was a very reputable company," Lucio said. "I feel very comfortably speaking on their behalf and asking them to consider us and that was my main focus." According to the Texas Ethics Commission, Lucio reported in 2005 that MTC and CorPlan paid him a total of at least $50,000 through his Brownsville company, Rio Shelters Inc. In the wake of the bribery scandal, Lucio said he had stopped representing the firms and wouldn't again until the matter was cleared up. "I know there has been a case, a problem, a situation there where somebody associated with (Parkey) out of Laredo was indicted and convicted," Lucio said, referring to Cortez. "But when the lawsuit against him was dropped, I felt that he was exonerated." Told that the bribery investigation may still be open, he said: "If it is, I am not aware of it." Asked if he was being paid by MTC or CorPlan for encouraging the detention center contract, he said: "It's up to them if they feel I did a good job." Lucio said it was "very hard to draw a fine line" between his job as a lawmaker and his private work, but added: "I can tell you this: I do my best." "I get paid $600 a month to be a state senator, and I do it just about on a full-time basis," he said. Damon Hiniger, a vice president of CCA in Tennessee, said he was surprised by the county's decision because CCA was going to invest its own money, pay about $1.8 million in property taxes, and shoulder the risk. Judge Salinas said he was influenced by the bottom line, nothing more. "I have nothing against CCA, they are a good reputable company, but they are in the business to make their own bucks," he said. The detention facility is to open Aug. 1 with 500 beds, and then have 1,500 more available Oct. 1. It is part of President Bush's Secure Border Initiative.

July 20, 2006 Valley Morning Star
State Sen. Eddie Lucio resumed consulting work with a company that he says offers Willacy County hundreds of jobs and a steady flow of revenue for years to come. Last year, Lucio suspended business with Management Training Corp. and two other companies involved in the development of a $14.5 million prison project that was the focus of a federal bribery investigation. That investigation led to the convictions of former Willacy County commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez. In letters to the companies, Lucio wrote he was taking "a leave of absence" from consulting work "until this matter is resolved." At the time, Lucio asked the Texas Attorney General's Office and the state Ethics Commission to review his work as a consultant. "I can do business with companies that do business with the federal government," Lucio said the agencies determined. Lucio resumed work for MTC as the company sought a Willacy County contract to operate a $60.6 million detention center to hold illegal immigrants. Last week, commissioners voted 3-2 to give MTC a two-year contract to operate the detention center. "They're an outstanding operation," Lucio said of the Utah-based company that operates a 525-bed county-owned prison here. Lucio declined to disclose his fee. Monday, commissioners voted 3-2 to issue $60.6 million in bonds to build the detention center that's part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's crackdown on illegal immigration. "I think Willacy County will come out ahead," Lucio said. "I think it's a wonderful opportunity for hundreds of jobs." Lucio said his work with MTC was limited to a meeting with County Attorney Juan Angel Guerra. In the meeting, Lucio talked 30 to 45 minutes with Guerra, who recommended that commissioners hire Corrections Corporation of America, which proposed working with investors to fund the project's costs. "He had questions whether MTC was a reputable company," said Lucio, who owns Rio Consulting in Brownsville. "He was very, very out to get the commissioners to hire CCA. All we did was talk about the qualifications of MTC and why it would be a better deal." Under MTC's contract, the county will own the detention center, Lucio said. "It's a ($60) million asset at the end," Lucio said, referring to county payments that run through 2009. "This is going to be a ... facility for the future. They can continue the same situation. I'm going to push MTC to make sure they fulfill the wishes of Willacy County. What we need to do is insure that inmates are brought to that facility." Lucio said he stood behind company projections that show the federal government will fill the detention center with more than 1,800 illegal immigrants. "The federal government is in dire need," Lucio said of detention center beds. County commissioners Aurelio Guerra and Abiel Cantu voted against hiring MTC because they questioned whether the federal government could fill the detention center with illegal immigrants for which the company would pay at least $2.25 a head. But steps such as hiring more U.S. Border Patrol agents and the placement of National Guard troops along the border will increase arrests of illegal immigrants, Lucio said. "Even President Bush is beefing up the border," he said. "(But) nothing is going to stop people from (crossing the border) to seek the American dream. I think more people are going to get caught." Cantu and Aurelio Guerra also voted against the company's hiring because they argued that the federal government would restrict the county from spending detention center revenues on county expenditures. Lucio said he did not know the specifics of the contract. "That's up to the Commissioners Court to look into the specifics of the contract," he said. Lucio denied Juan Angel Guerra's claim that he was working for Corplan Corrections, an Irving-based prison consulting firm, in the detention center project. Juan Angel Guerra said Lucio told him that he worked for James Parkey, Corplan's president. Last year, Lucio said he suspended ties with Corplan, MTC and Aguirre Corp. of Dallas after Tamez and Jimenez pleaded guilty to taking more than $10,000 in bribes in exchange for votes to hire a consultant in the $14.5 million prison project that the companies helped to develop. Lucio said he resumed work with Corplan after McAllen attorney Ramon Garcia, Hidalgo County's judge, dropped a lawsuit against Corplan and Houston-based Hale Mills construction in April. "When they were exonerated ... it cleared the path," Lucio said. "I work for them anytime I like to. I like Mr. Parkey. He's a good man. As far as I'm concerned, he's a reputable person." However, Lucio said his work with Corplan did not involve the detention center project. Last month, Willacy County commissioners entered into a two-year contract with Homeland Security to construct tent-like domes to hold 500 beds by Aug. 2. As part of the contract, the detention center will expand to 2,000 beds within 90 days.

July 16, 2006 Valley Morning Star
Federal officials said last week that it's not their intention to fill up a 2,000-bed detention center that would hold illegal immigrants before deportation. But Willacy County commissioners are banking on a private prison company that claims the federal government will pay the county nearly $12 million to house 2,000 prisoners there. "I can't guarantee those numbers," Nina Pruneda, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Antonio, said of the inmate count. "It's not a question of filling beds," she said. "It's making sure we have operational beds ready." The $50 million detention center made up of 10 Kevlar-covered domes is part of the federal government's national crackdown on illegal immigration, officials said. Last month, county commissioners entered into a two-year contract with Homeland Security in the construction of tent-like domes to house 500 beds by Aug. 2. As part of the contract, the detention center would expand to 2,000 beds within 90 days. This month, commissioners picked Utah-based Management Training Corp. to operate the detention center. But the Willacy County Local Government Corp., a nonprofit board organized to oversee the project, failed to ratify the contract. Thursday, commissioners held off on the issue of $50 million in bonds amid concerns that the federal government may not fill up the detention center with prisoners for whom it would pay a daily rate per detainee. In South Texas, the new detention center would boost the number of beds open to illegal immigrants to 5,200, Pruneda said. The agency decided to build the Willacy County detention center rather than expand its detention center in Port Isabel, which houses 800 beds, Pruneda said. "The decision to open a facility in Willacy was an operational decision," she said. Wednesday, consultants warned that the federal government would likely restrict the county to the expenditure of "administrative" fees of as little as $2.25 a day per prisoner. The "county's current approach may open the county to substantial liability to the federal government," warned the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld of Washington, D.C. The consultants noted the federal contract specifies the county "shall not charge for costs which are not directly related to the housing and detention of detainees." "It specifically identifies costs for which the county may not charge, such as certain salaries, indirect costs and services and facilities that are not used by the federal detainees," the consultants wrote. The consultants cited a case in which Homeland Security required Pennsylvania's York County to return as much as $58.5 million after it allegedly spent detention center revenue on unauthorized expenses.

July 12, 2006 Valley Morning Star
The new detention center for illegal immigrants may not be the financial windfall that county officials imagine, the county attorney said. Willacy County Attorney Juan Angel Guerra warned commissioners that the federal government may restrict the spending of money generated by a new $50 million detention center. A contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security restricts spending to the detention of illegal immigrants, Guerra told commissioners. "It is very clear that you have to justify every single amount of money and if you can't justify it, the money goes back" to Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Guerra told commissioners in a Monday meeting. Last month, the county entered into a contract with Homeland Security to sell $50 million in bonds to develop a 2,000-bed detention center to house illegal immigrants. In the meeting, Guerra warned that Homeland Security required Pennsylvania's York County to return as much as $58.5 million allegedly spent on unauthorized expenses.

July 6, 2006 San Antonio Express-News
Willacy County officials haven't formally decided who will get to build the state's largest immigration detention facility — but that hasn't stopped a Houston company from beginning work on the massive project. Hale-Mills Construction has had crews at the site of the planned $50 million jail for the past two weeks, leveling land and pouring concrete for the foundation. The company began working on the 2,000-bed facility after county officials signed an agreement June 19 with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house detainees. Without a county decision on how to pay for it or, more importantly, who would be hired to build it, Hale-Mills began clearing a cotton field in Raymondville the next day. County officials are working out other details, such as how the county will pay for the facility's construction and if Hale-Mills will build it, Vela said. County Judge Simon Salinas said the company is working at its own risk and has no guarantees it will be chosen to finish the job. The county formed the public facilities corporation to issue $50 million in lease revenue bonds to investors to fund construction. Although no bonds have been issued and the county hasn't identified the corporation's governing board, that board is set to meet today to pick officers, consider hiring Vela as its lawyer and consider approving a contract with Hale-Mills. It will also consider hiring a private jail company to operate the facility after it is completed.